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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Dulce et Decorum Est," by Wilfred Owen
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 5
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Having someone as clumsy as Zacharia for a mouthpiece makes it easier to tell which is which.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
Warsh’s clumsy explanation played a role in pushing up longer-term interest rates set by the bond market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Food preparation bots are sometimes clumsy – dropping ingredients in the wrong places at times, she explains.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Planners call this the sequence-of-returns risk, which is a clumsy name for something simple.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
Akira steered Sue away from the fire, and they fell into the slow, clumsy rhythm of a three-legged race.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Using the blower to herd balls around the park feels fairly intuitive, though naturally I'm much clumsier and slower than the pro landscapers.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
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 ● Feb. 3, 2026
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
But even in the dim light, she could tell Kaz was moving too slowly, his gloved fingers clumsier than she’d ever seen them.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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
Nevertheless, the script also makes amends in some of the clumsiest, most nightmarish plot developments imaginable.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2021
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
The poor girl tumbled onto the ice as if she were the world’s clumsiest 15-year-old, milliseconds after she had appeared to be the most graceful one.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2014
It was the clumsiest production of physical interaction; the whole thing lasted no more than several seconds.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
