clunky
adjective
clunky is spelled C-L-U-N-K-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, clunky means “Ungainly; awkward; inelegant; cumbersome” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in clunky?
| Letters | 6: C-L-U-N-K-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,320th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is clunky?
Clunky appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce clunky?
- US
Clunky has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-clunky.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of clunky
- clunkier comparative
- clunkiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does clunky mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
informalUngainly; awkward; inelegant; cumbersome.
That tomboy's clothing is rather clunky.
- 2
Being or making a clunk sound.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Clunky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense ungainly and awkward to use:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | klobig, schwerfällig |
| Portuguese | desajeitado |
| Spanish | burdo, aparatoso, desgarbado, difícil de usar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does clunky come from?
From clunk + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).