clumsy
Americanadjective
-
clumsier,
comparative
-
clumsiest
superlative
-
awkward in movement or action; without skill or grace.
He is very clumsy and is always breaking things.
- Synonyms:
- lubberly, lumbering, ungainly, ungraceful
-
awkwardly done or made; unwieldy; ill-contrived.
He made a clumsy, embarrassed apology.
- Synonyms:
- inept, heavy-handed, bumbling, inexpert, maladroit, unskillful, unhandy
adjective
-
lacking in skill or physical coordination
-
awkwardly constructed or contrived
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of clumsy
1590–1600; clums benumbed with cold (now obsolete) + -y 1; akin to Middle English clumsen to be stiff with cold, dialectal Swedish klumsig benumbed, awkward, klums numbskull, Old Norse klumsa lockjaw. See clam 2
Explanation
Someone clumsy is a klutz. They're awkward, ungraceful, and walk like they have two left feet. Something hard to handle — like a huge box — is also clumsy. A badly told story is told in a clumsy way, and a couch that's hard to move clumsy to carry. But mostly being clumsy is embarrassing. Dropping things, tripping a lot, and stumbling are all examples of clumsiness. Clumsy people usually aren't too good at sports or dancing. And you certainly don't want a clumsy surgeon. Most people are a little clumsy when they're teenagers — growing so fast makes it hard to be sure of yourself physically.
Vocabulary lists containing clumsy
Awkward Moments
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"Dulce et Decorum Est," by Wilfred Owen
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List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One unquestionable element is its success in raising the low estimation of Green Lantern created by a particularly clumsy movie, simply by imagining possibilities in much bigger terms.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Popular culture has often depicted the dodo as clumsy and unintelligent, sometimes suggesting that its extinction was almost unavoidable.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
"The agents followed inefficient routes and exhibited clumsy behaviours that no human would choose", the CSA wrote.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
I literally drove to the tattoo shop on Hollywood Boulevard with my arm out the window because I’m so clumsy and I didn’t want to smudge it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Nhamo had written letters to Dr. Masuku in her clumsy, uneven scrawl.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Camille was funnier and weirder and clumsier — and happier.
From Salon ● May 30, 2025
And indeed, in clumsier hands, the episodic humiliations of Less, “this slapstick, ridiculous, zigzagging queer,” might quickly pall.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2022
Apple doesn’t allow for native app streaming, requiring the likes of Microsoft to build a clumsier, web-based solution than what’s available on Android.
From The Verge ● Jun. 8, 2022
Some cats are just clumsier than others, and material possessions mean nothing to them.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 5, 2018
Sitting in the entrance, he tried to make the blackthorn wand levitate small stones at his feet; but his magic still seemed clumsier and less powerful than it had done before.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
But there’s an earnest, yearning passion here that makes the film feel vital even at its clumsiest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2023
The clumsiest amongst us has taken a daily ballet class, and isn’t half bad.
From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2020
“Eminem hits clunker after clunker on “Revival,” his clumsiest record to date.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2018
The seven-speed Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has a feature called Active Rev Matching, which automatically adjusts the engine’s speed to smooth out your clumsiest shifts—something drivers once had to learn through practice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2018
And before I could say Yankee Doodle, I was swept onto the marble dance floor and forced to divide my time among four of the South’s clumsiest, rock-footed mutineers.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
