Synonyms

ham-handed

American

[ham-han-did] / ˈhæmˈhæn dɪd /

especially British, ham-fisted

adjective

clumsy, inept, or heavy-handed.

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

Other Word Forms

hamhandedness noun

Etymology

Origin of ham-handed

First recorded in 1915–20

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.

Last month, following a ham-handed government attempt to ban most social-media apps, thousands of young protesters took to the streets of Kathmandu, the capital.

From The Wall Street Journal

Obama, a Harvard alum, described the freeze as "unlawful and ham-handed".

From BBC

While the film’s execution seems expert on the surface, the internal narrative design is unfortunately ham-handed and woefully dull.

From Los Angeles Times

Would the greatest legal advocate of his time be so stupid as to sanction such a ham-handed bribery scheme?

From Los Angeles Times

“I think there were much better ways for the Legislature to go about addressing their concerns, rather than this ham-handed approach.”

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023