要領が悪い
ようりょうがわるい
expression, i-adjective
inefficient; clumsy; bad at getting things done
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 要領が悪い | 要領が悪くない |
| Past | 要領が悪かった | 要領が悪くなかった |
| て form | 要領が悪くて | 要領が悪くなくて |
| Adverbial | 要領が悪く | — |
| Conditional ば | 要領が悪ければ | 要領が悪くなければ |
| Conditional たら | 要領が悪かったら | 要領が悪くなかったら |
1.
inefficient; clumsy; poor at managing tasks
Describes a person who is not good at doing things efficiently — someone who takes longer than necessary, wastes effort, or doesn't know how to take shortcuts. The opposite of youryou ga ii (efficient, savvy).
Composed of 要領 (knack, essential point) + が悪い (bad at). Describes someone who lacks the knack for getting things done smoothly.
Common collocations
- 要領が悪い人: an inefficient person
- 要領が悪くて: being inefficient, so...
Related words
- 要領がいい: efficient, savvy — the positive counterpart; describes someone skilled at getting things done with minimal effort. Can also have a slightly negative nuance of being too shrewd or cutting corners.
Similar words
- 不器用: clumsy, unskillful — broader; covers physical clumsiness and social awkwardness as well
- 手際が悪い: poor at handling tasks — focuses on the execution of specific tasks
- 効率が悪い: inefficient — more neutral and objective; often about systems or processes rather than people
Usage
Often used self-deprecatingly. While it describes a genuine weakness, it is not as harsh as calling someone incompetent — it implies the person is earnest but lacks the knack for efficiency.