clumsy
Americanadjective
-
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
- clumsily adverb
- clumsiness noun
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
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.
Park stages Man-su’s homicide attempts as slapstick set pieces in which our clumsy antihero himself barely gets out alive.
From Los Angeles Times
According to sheriff’s officials, Buzzard rented a vehicle for the trip and took deliberate steps to avoid detection, including wearing wigs and clumsy disguises.
From Los Angeles Times
Mr. Bennett and Mr. Hytner’s attempt to impose a modern internationalist message on this particular year feels foolish and clumsy.
Ransone played Ziggy, the clumsy and chaotic petty criminal in the second season of the crime drama, which is one of the most acclaimed TV series of all time.
From BBC
She calls it “the fearlessness while also being allowed to wobble and be clumsy, but always have wit and always have sharpness and clarity.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
