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Showing results for "ham-fisted"

ham-fisted

British  

adjective

  1. informal lacking dexterity or elegance; clumsy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Instead we are treated to a ham-fisted effort at pretending that Usha Vance spends her days strapped to a sponge.

From Salon Nov. 26, 2025

Now there’s a ham-fisted goon in an ill-fitting valet attendant’s coat rummaging in broad daylight through all of the keys—all of that private information, previously given in trust, handled with care, and regulated by law.

From Slate Feb. 3, 2025

It got worse with Brook's ham-fisted "who cares?" comment after the first one-dayer against Australia.

From BBC Oct. 10, 2024

A compassionate anecdote about a homeless woman he met in Oregon preceded “The Eyes of Portland,” a well-intentioned if lyrically ham-fisted protest song from “Orpheus Descending.”

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 12, 2023

Phony rules, which proliferate like urban legends and are just as hard to eradicate, are responsible for vast amounts of ham-fisted copyediting and smarty-pants one-upmanship.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

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