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.
They have to be tilted into a dumpster that is moved into position, but Alexander makes the comic most of these clumsier stage mechanics.
From Los Angeles Times
It has apologised for what it described as "errors" and "clumsy language".
From BBC
Irian followed, scrambling up scree fast, but rendered clumsy by the newness of her boots.
From Literature
Murphy's firm, one of the most prominent lobbyists of the Labour government, has apologised for what it described as "errors" and "clumsy language".
From BBC
Her up-close vision isn’t good, even under the best of circumstances, and it doesn’t help that the cold presses through the glass, making our fingers numb and clumsy.
From Literature
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.
