lummox

American  

[luhm-uhks] / ˈlʌm əks /

noun

Informal.

1. a clumsy, stupid person.

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lummox British  

/ ˈlʌməks /

noun

1. informal a clumsy or stupid person

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Etymology

Origin of lummox

First recorded in 1815–25; compare dialectal (Midlands) lommock “large chunk of food,” lommocking “clumsy, awkward”; further origin uncertain

Explanation

A lummox is an awkward or goofy person. You might fondly refer to your klutzy best friend as a big old lummox. Use the noun lummox when you need an informal, old fashioned word for a klutz. Though it can easily be seen as a serious insult, calling someone a lummox these days is fairly unusual and is more likely to be done in an affectionate or teasing way. Lummox comes from East Anglian slang, although its origin isn't known for sure. Some experts guess that it might stem from "dumb ox" or "lumbering."

Example Sentences

Fraser was everywhere in the 1990s and early 2000s: a sweetly handsome, blue-eyed lummox whose starring roles established him as a perpetual naif.

From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2022

In it, William H. Macy played Jerry Lundegaard, a watery-eyed lummox who wears a mask of Minnesota nice.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 23, 2014

In the script that Mr. Smith delivered, Lois Griffin, the wife of the titular “Family Guy” lummox, Peter Griffin, agrees to be a surrogate mother for a college friend who cannot conceive.

From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2010

Professor Adam could hardly feel encouraged or complimented by your article, nor do we double up in excruciating joy to learn that we are musically a lummox.

From Time Magazine Archive

Them Muggles are coming, yeh see, with their flashing blues and they won’t ’preciate a big lummox like me, would they?

From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling