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View synonyms for all thumbs

all thumbs

  1. Clumsy or awkward: “Where plumbing is concerned, Walter is all thumbs.”


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Idioms and Phrases

Physically awkward, especially with respect to the hands, as in When it comes to knitting, Mary is all thumbs . The notion of this idiom derives from a proverb in John Heywood's collection of 1546: “When he should get aught, each finger is a thumb.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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