ham-handed

especially British, ham-fist·ed

[ham-han-did]

adjective

1. clumsy, inept, or heavy-handed.

   a ham-handed approach to dealing with people that hurts a lot of feelings.

Other Word Forms

• hamhandedness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ham-handed¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Related Words

• bulky 
• heavy-handed 
• inept 
• ponderous 
• ungainly 
• unwieldy