Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🥾 Awkward or bulky 🔊 Loud and heavy
clunky

clunky

1 6.1
A heavy, dull sound that old machines or boots make
  • adjective
  • /ˈklʌŋki/
translation icon : ruidoso
  • But the A333 is way more elegant than the clunky 767.
  • clunky shoes
  • clunky phone
  • big and clunky

Low speed, clunky, noisy, not reliable, but ubiquitous.

Examples

  • A clunky early-model boom box segues from James Brown's "Make It Funky" to Led Zeppelin's "Gallows Pole."

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Also revised: the transmission, though it still comes across a bit clunky around town.

    Blog text (29)

  • At times, the action is so massive and thunderously clunky that I might as well.

    Blog text (26)

  • Midnite Society seemed like they hadn't played in a while, and were a little dusty and clunky at times.

    Blog text (25)

  • It smashed on the floor, clunky white chunks of porcelain scattering across the room.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The old machine made a clunky sound every time it started up, filling the room with an awkward noise.

  • His clunky shoes echoed on the hard floor, making it hard for him to sneak out quietly.

  • Every time she opened the clunky drawer, it creaked loudly and struck against the frame.

Synonyms

sludgy
vsclunky
1 6.6

Slow, heavy music with a thick, distorted sound

is heavy and abrupt rather than slow and dense in texture
boomy
vsclunky
1 7.3

A deep loud sound that echoes and has strong bass

is a dull, heavy noise without deep echo or strong resonance
thudding
vsclunky
4.7

A heavy, dull sound you can feel as a low beat

is louder and more awkward than a muffled struck sound
drummy
vsclunky
  • UK
8.9

A hollow sound when tapped, like a drum

is a dull, heavy, awkwardly loud sound rather than hollow

How Noisy

deafening
9 3.5
noisy
125 1.0
loud
733 1.0
clunky
1 6.1
quiet
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

clunky positive
clunkier comparative
clunkiest superlative

Morphology

clunky = clunk (transparent) = clunk + y

Meaning is directly formed from 'clunk' + '-y' and denotes something that makes or has clunking sounds, which is predictable for learners.

Etymology

Clunky comes from the sound word clunk, a simple word that copies the heavy, dull noise 'clunk'. So clunky can mean 'making that heavy, awkward noise'.