clumsiness

American  

[kluhm-zee-nis] / ˈklʌm zi nɪs /

noun

1. awkwardness or lack of skill or grace in movement or action.

   In spite of their large size and reputed clumsiness, bears are fleet-footed.

2. the fact or quality of being awkwardly done or made, or of being poorly contrived, difficult to use, etc..

   The story wasn't bad, but had moments of clumsiness.

   Despite the winning concept of a phone combined with a gaming console, this version was doomed by the clumsiness of its design.

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Etymology

Origin of clumsiness

First recorded in 1650–60; clumsy ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clumsiness

I was a little taken aback by the clumsiness of the comedy, which makes even “Saturday Night Live” of recent vintage seem like a work of genius.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

It's best to exclude penalties as refereeing decisions and defensive clumsiness give a false impression of how good teams actually are at attacking and defending, especially at this early stage.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

There’s no harm in that per se, but you’ll have to forgive my irritation with Sudeikis, Lawrence, Hunt and fellow executive producer and showrunner Joe Kelly’s clumsiness with the team’s most complicated working relationship.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026

She spilled Coke on her sari and figured her clumsiness would doom the engagement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

But just as he had the thought, they came to a stop, and the smooth flow of their march broke with a clumsiness that momentarily eased Jonathan’s tension.

From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi

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