Clumsy

Definition: Clumsy

Clumsy

Adjective

1. Lacking grace in movement or posture; "a gawky lad with long ungainly legs"; "clumsy fingers"; "what an ungainly creature a giraffe is"; "heaved his unwieldy figure out of his chair".

2. Not elegant or graceful in expression; "an awkward prose style"; "a clumsy apology"; "his cumbersome writing style"; "if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?".

3. Difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape; "an awkward bundle to carry"; "a load of bunglesome paraphernalia"; "clumsy wooden shoes"; "the cello, a rather ungainly instrument for a girl".

4. Showing lack of skill or aptitude; "a bungling workman"; "did a clumsy job"; "his fumbling attempt to put up a shelf".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "clumsy" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references)

Note: Clumsy \Clum"sy\, adjective. [Comparative Clumsier; superlative Clumsiest.]. (references)

Literature

Multilingual Slang

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Clumsy

Inexpedience

Clumsy, awkward; cumbrous, cumbersome; lumbering, unwieldy, hulky; unmanageable; (impracticable); impedient; (in the way).

Ugliness

Graceless, inelegant; ungraceful, ungainly, uncouth, stiff; rugged, rough, gross, rude, awkward, clumsy, slouching, rickety; gawky; lumping, lumpish; lumbering; hulky, hulking; unwieldy.

Unskillfulness

Adjective: unskillful; inexpert; bungling;Verb: awkward, clumsy, unhandy, lubberly, gauche, maladroit; left-handed, heavy-handed; slovenly, slatternly; gawky.

Crosswords: Clumsy

A little clumsy, are you not, my friend (Zorro, the Gay Blade; writing credit: Greg Alt; Hal Dresner)

Your attack was no better than that of a clumsy child (Highlander; writing credit: Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, and Larry Ferguson.)

You clumsy (Cinderella; writing credit: Ken Anderson; Homer Brightman)

I think it's 'cause I'm clumsy (Luka; performing artist: Suzanne Vega)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• America's Dumbest Criminals from the Hit TV Show: 200 Wild & Weird Stories of Fumbling Felons, Clumsy Crooks, and Ridiculous Robbers from the Hit TV (reference)

• Clever Card Tricks for the Hopelessly Clumsy (reference)

• Clumsy Alligator: Read by Yourself (reference)

• Clumsy Crocodile (Reading for Beginners) (reference)

• Henrietta the Clumsy Hippo (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Clumsy [US] (reference)

• Clumsy Lovers Live (reference)

• Still Clumsy After All These Years (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Clumsy man kicking chair after stepping on man's toes. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

I have put into Class I those whose answers seemed specially short and neat, and into Class III those that seemed specially long or clumsy.

Clumsy work, crabbed worker

But he drank off the hot weak tea which the clumsy scullion, girt with a white apron, poured into his cup.

Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

I'm too clumsy because of the Alzheimer's. (references)

It is named after the physician Nicholas Friedreich, who first described the condition in the 1860's. "Ataxia," which refers to coordination problems such as clumsy or awkward movements and unsteadiness, occurs in many different diseases and conditions. (references)

Other features include clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements, social impairment with extreme obtuseness, limited interests and/or unusual preoccupations, repetitive routines or rituals, speech and language peculiarities, and non-verbal communication problems. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "clumsy": be clumsy ♦ clumsy clot ♦ clumsy creature ♦ clumsy fellow ♦ clumsy lout ♦ clumsy out ♦ clumsy person ♦ clumsy thing. Additional references.

Beginning with "clumsy": clumsy-looking, clumsy-sounding.

Ending with "clumsy": over-clumsy, tender-clumsy.

Albanian

kaba (awkward, bulky, cubbish, horsy, hulking, lubberly, lumpy, ponderous, unwieldy), i trashë (bearish, coarse, coarse grained, crass, deep, dense, dullish, dumb, dummy, fat, fatuous, fool, full-bodied, full-fed, gross, gruff, lardy, oafish, obese, obtuse, puddingy, purblind, ropy, rough and ready, round, roundabout, slapstick, slow witted, slowcoach, stupid, tactless, thick, uncouth, viscous, wooden, wooden-headed), i plogët (apathetic, apathetical, dull, idle, indolent, inert, lackadaisical, slack, slothful, supine), i patakt (crude, gauche, indelicate, indiscreet, tactless, tasteless), i ngathët (angular, atonic, awkward, cubbish, dawdler, dead, dead alive, dull, dullish, footless, gauche, gawky, ham-fisted, heavy, heavy-handed, hulking, inept, laggard, languid, left handed, lubberly, lumbering, lymphatic, maladroit, oafish, pedestrian, poky, quick, shiftless, slack, torpid, ungainly, unhandy, unmoved, unready, unwieldy, wooden). (various references)

Arabic 

‏غير ملائم (awkward, awkwardly, disadvantageous, inadequate, inapplicable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incommensurate, inconvenient, inept, unfortunate, unfriendly, unhandy, unseemly, unsuitable, untidy, untimely), ‏غير متقن (botchery, careless), ‏غير مصقول (clumsiness, coarse, inelegant, robust, unfinished, unpolished, unvarnished), ‏غير رشيق, ‏غير بارع (amateurish, artless, bungling, inapt, inferior, profane, unskilful, unskilled, unworkmanlike), ‏الأخرق (duffer, gawk, oaf), ‏أخرق (awkward, bungling, elephantine, gauche, gawky, impolitic, left handed, lubberly, lump, mad, maladroit, meaningless, nincompoop, oafish, ponderous, preposterous, senseless, shy, uncouth, ungainly, unhappy, wooden). (various references)

Bulgarian 

тромав (awkward, bumbling, cumbersome, cumbrous, elephantine, flat-footed, gawky, hamfisted, heavy, hulking, lumbering, lumpish, lumpy, maladroit, ponderous, rude, shambling, stodgy, ungainly, ungraceful, unhandy, unwieldy), груб (abrupt, bearish, boeotian, brusque, callous, churlish, clownish, coarse, coarse grained, common, crude, cubbish, curt, earthy, feral, glaring, graceless, gross, gruff, hard boiled, harsh, heavy, hoggish, homespun, horny, loutish, low, material, outlandish, raspy, raucous, raw, rough, rough-shod, rowdy, rude, rugged, russet, rusty, short, surly, tough, uncivil, uncouth, wild and woolly), несръчен (all thumbs, awkward, blundering, bungling, butterfingered, heavy-handed, inept, left handed, maladroit, two-fisted, unapt, unskilful, untoward), нетактичен (gauche, indelicate, indiscreet, maladroit, rude, tactless, tasteless, undiplomatic, unhappy, untactful), непохватен (artless, awkward, bumbling, chuckle, gawky, heavy, lubberly, two-fisted, uncouth, ungainly, unhandy, unskilful), пипкав (bungling, having the pip, laggard, pokey, slow, sluggish). (various references)

Chinese 

笨拙 (awkward, stupid). (various references)

Czech

tìžkopádný (cumbersome, cumbrous, dull, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy, heavy going, heavy-handed, inarticulate, lumpish, unwieldy), nevhodný (ill timed, impolitic, improper, inadequate, inadvisable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incongruous, inconvenient, ineligible, inexpedient, inopportune, misbecoming, off-key, unappropriated, unapt, unbecoming, uncalled for, undesirable, undue, unfit, unlikely, unlucky, unseasonable, unseemly, unsuitable, untimely), neohrabaný (awkward, bumbling, cumbersome, gauche, ham-fisted, ham-handed, hulking, inept, unwieldy, wooden), neobratný (maladroit, ungainly, unhandy, unskillful), nemotorný (awkward, bumbling, elephantine, gauche, gawky, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy-handed, oafish, ungainly, unskillful), nejapný (crude, gauche, inane, inept), nešikovný (awkward, butter-fingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, inept, maladroit, unskillful, unwieldy). (various references)

Dutch

sukkelig (awkward), stumperig (abject, awkward, dismal, meager, miserable, wretched), schutterig (awkward), onhandig (awkward), onbeholpen (awkward), knullig (awkward). (various references)

Farsi 

ناازموده (Chicken, Fresh, Simple, Ungainly, Untried), زمخت (Blowsy, Blowzy, Churlish, Coarse, Crass, Crude, Gross, Hard, Impolite, Raucous, Rough, Rude, Rugged, Tough), خام دست (Gauche, Jackleg, Unfledged), بدترکیب . (various references)

Finnish

taitamaton (a poor hand, incompetent, inexperienced, poor, unskilful, unskilled), kömpelö (awkward, ham-handed). (various references)

French

maladroit (clumsy person). (various references)

German

unbeholfen (awkward, gauche, gauchely, gawky, helpless, inept, putter, uncouth, ungainly, unskilful, unskilfully, unskillful, unskillfully, unwieldy, wooden), schwerfällig (awkward, bovine, cumbersome, cumbersomely, dull, heavily, heavy, inarticulate, inelegant, inelegantly, klutzy, labored, laboured, lumbering, lumberingly, phlegmatic, ponderous, ponderously, slow, sluggish, stodgy, unwieldy), plump (awkward, clownish, clownishly, clumsily, crass, crude, dumpy, inelegant, inelegantly, inept, lumpish, lumpy, obvious, stumpily, stumpy, ungainly, ungraceful, ungracefully), täppisch (awkward). (various references)

Greek 

κακότεχνοσ (botchy), χονδρόσ (beefy, big, blocky, bluff, bouncing, burly, clumpy, coarse, crass, gristle, gross, lubberly, lumpish, lumpy, pursy, stubbed, thick, thickset), άχαρισ (graceless, ill-favored, ill-favoured, inelegant, uncomely, ungraceful, unlovely), άχαροσ (ill-favored, ill-favoured, joyless, mirthless, ungrateful), άτσαλοσ (bungler), ατζαμήσ (bungler, greenhorn), αδέξιοσ (awkward, clownish, dabbler, gauche, heavy-handed, inapt, loutish, lubberly, lumpish, lumpy, maladroit, skilless, slouch, squirt, unapt, ungainly, unhandy, unskillful), αδαής (inxeperienced). (various references)

Hebrew 

מ�'ושם (awkward, burly, clown, gawky, gross, hulking, uncouth, ungainly, unwieldy), מסורבל (awkward, complicated, hulking, maladroit, ungainly), עב�" (coarse, gross, thick), כב�" ת� וע�" (awkward, logy), �"ובי (bearish, ursine), �'למ� י (awkward, gauche), �'ס (bulky, coarse, crude, impolite, indelicate, lubricious, rough, rude). (various references)

Hungarian

balkezes (awkward, blundering, left handed, maladroit, southpaw), ügyetlen (awkward, blundering, freshwater, fumbling, gawky, gimp, half-assed, impolitic, inexpert, left handed, lumpish, maladroit, uneasy, unhandy, unskilful, unskillful). (various references)

Indonesian

culas (deceitful, indolent, lazy, plodding, slow), canggung (awkward, crass, gauche, ill mannered), rikuh (awkward), kikuk, janggal (awkward, disprove, inept), gabir (awkward, maladroit). (various references)

Italian

sgraziato (awkward, gawky, ill-favored, ill-favoured, ungainly, ungraceful), senza tatto (clumsily, tactless), maldestro (all thumbs, awkward, gauche, ham-fisted, heavy-handed, ill at ease, inexperienced, inexpert, maladroit, unhandy), mal costruito, impacciato (awkward, helpless, uneasy, unwieldy), goffo (awkward, cubbish, gauche, gawky, ham-fisted, hobbledehoy, maladroit, oafish, uncouth, ungainly, unhandy). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

拙劣 (unskillful), 拙い (foolish, unlucky, unskillful). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ぎ�"ちない (awkward, constrained, stiff), ぶざま (uncouth, unpresentable, unshapely, unsightly), ぶきよう (awkward, awkwardness, clumsiness, lack of ability, unskillfulness), ぶさいく (homely, plain, poor shape), ぶかっ�"う (awkward, clumsiness, misshapen, shapeless, unshapeliness), ぶ�"つ (boorish, brusque, rustic, uncouth, unrefined), ふせい�"う (abortive, bungling, failure, stainless steel), ふかっ�"う (awkward, misshapen, shapeless), つたない (foolish, unlucky, unskillful), せつれつ (unskillful), へぼ (bungler, greenhorn, poor hand). (various references)

Korean 

서투른. (various references)

Manx

staghylagh (awkward), ordaagagh (butter-fingered), neuyesh (improper, inapplicable, incongruous, incorrect, inelegant, unbecoming, undesirable), maaigerey (awkward, awkward handed, butter-fingers), maaigagh (pawed, pawlike, pawy, unhandy), doss (bouquet, bun, bunch, clump, drone, mop of hair, tussock). (various references)

Pig Latin

umsyclay.(various references)

Portuguese

trapalhão (bumbling, bungler, dabbler), tosco (bumbling, cloddish, crude, gross, harsh, rugged, uncouth, unhewn), sem graça (flatly, milk-and-water, muzzy, platitudinous, savorless, savourless, tubby, uncomely, unshapely, unsightly), indelicado (brusque, displeasing, gross, impolite, indelicate, mannerless, rude, ungracious, unmannerly), grosseiro (awkward, bearish, blanket, boorish, bumbling, caddish, churlish, cloddish, clownish, coarse-grained, common, crass, crude, cub, curmudgeon, curmudgeonly, earthy, gross, gruff, harsh, heavy-handed, hoggish, homely, ill-bred, ill-mannered, impolite, incondite, indelicate, inelaborate, joggly, lacerated, left-handed, lob, loutish, low-bred, lubberly, lumpish, piggish, ragged, ribald, rough, rude, rugged, scurrilous, surly, swinish, thick, uncivil, uncouth, uncultivated, unkind, unladylike, unmannerly, unparliamentary, untaught, vulgar, vulgarian, wooden), desajeitado (awkward, backhanded, blundering, boorish, bulky, bumbling, chuckle, cloddish, clownish, cubbish, floppy, fumbling, gawky, graceless, hawbuck, hobbledehoy, homely, hulking, ill-favored, ill-favoured, ill-mannered, inexpert, left-handed, lout, loutish, low-bred, lubber, lubberly, maladroit, muff, shiftless, uncouth, ungainly, ungraceful, unhandy, unskilful, unwieldy, wooden). (various references)

Romanian

stângaci (artless, awkward, awkwardly, bearish, gawky, hulking, left handed, left-handed man, loose, lubber, lubberly, lumpish, maladroit, numb hand, splay, uncouth, uncouthly, ungainly, unskilful, unskilfully, unwieldy), prost (ass, bad, badly, beef-witted, blinkard, blockhead, blunt, booby, calf, cheap, cock eyed, common, dead, dolt, doltish, donkey, dull, dullard, dumb, dunce, dunderhead, flat, fool, foolish, good for nothing, goof, goon, goose, Goosey, gull, harmful, idiot, idiotish, inhospitable, lousy, lubber-head, miserable, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, nitwitted, noddy, noodle, numskull, numskulled, oaf, oafish, pin head, poor, poorly, silly, simple, simpleton, snipe, soft, soft-headed, sorry, spoony, stupid, thoughtless, unfavorable, unfavourable, wretched, zombie), neghiob (blockhead, booby, dolt, dullard, foolish, lubber-head, sheep, sheepish, silly, simpleton, stupid, zany), neajutorat (helpless, unaided), neajutat (by oneself, helpless, loose-fitting), neîndemânatic (awkward, awkwardly, buckram, butter fingers, butter-fingered, clumsily, fumbling, gawky, inapt, left handed, lubberly, maladroit, uncouth, ungainly, unskilful, unversed), nãtâng (blockhead, dead from the neck, Dotty, driveller, duffer, dummy, dunce, fat-head, feather-brained, foolish, noddy, silly, tomfool, wet, zombie), mãtãhãlos (awkward, bulky, deformed, gawky, heavy, hulking), lipsit de tact (impolitic), lãlâu, incomod (awkward, comfortless, incommodious, inconvenient, tedious, troublesome, uncomfortable, uneasy, unhandy), grosolan (boorish, broad, brutish, churlish, coarse, coarsely, crass, crude, currish, elephantine, flagrant, glaring, gross, grossly, homespun, ill bred, indecorous, indelicately, inurbane, large, loutish, oafish, rank, rough, roughly, rude, rugged, rustic, trivial, unaccomplished, unmannerly, vulgar), greu (annoying, arduous, awkward, burden, burdensome, busy, dangerously, difficult, difficulty, fatiguing, gravely, grievous, hard, hardly, heavily, heavy, inconvenient, labored, laborious, laboured, leaden, lot, massive, massy, near, onerous, oppressive, painful, parlous, precarious, punitive, reluctantly, scarcely, seriously, severe, solid, stiff, stodgy, stolid, strenuous, stuffy, ticklish, toilful, tough, troublesome, trying, uneasy, uphill, wearisome, weary, weight, weighty), aspru (abrupt, abruptly, acid, acrimonious, biting, brisk, callous, coarse, crisp, dour, drastic, earthy, edgy, exacting, firm, grating, gruelling, gruff, hard, harsh, hoarse, homespun, husky, ill, inclement, iron, iron-fisted, keen, lashing, nippy, obdurate, punitive, rasping, rigid, rigidly, rigorous, robust, rough, rugged, scabrous, severe, severely, shaggy, shy, smart, snappish, stern, stiff, Strait, strict, strong, stubborn, tough, unkind, violent, wiry). (various references)

Russian 

неуклюжий (bulky, bumbling, cack-handed, chuckle, cloddish, clunky, cubbish, gangly, gawky, goon, hamfisted, ham-fisted, heavy-handed, hulking, left handed, lout, lubberly, maladroit, oafish, splay, two-fisted, uncouth, ungainly, unhandy, unskilful, unwieldy). (various references)

Scottish

liobasta (awkward, slovenly). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

trapav (heavy-handed, hulking), nezgrapan (awkward, cumbersome, cumbrous, gangling, gauche, hulking, lumbering, lumpish, maladroit, ungainly, unhandy, unwieldy), nevešt (inapt, maladroit, unaccomplished, unhandy, unskilful, unskilled), neumestan (inapposite, place: out of place), neumesan (place: out of place), nespretan (awkward, gawky, left handed, maladroit, unhandy), glomazan (bulky, cumbersome, gross, logy, lumbering, lumpish, top heavy, unwieldy). (various references)

Spanish

chapucero (amateurish, bungler, bungling), tosco (boorish, coarse, crude, earthy, hulking, raw, rough, rude, rugged, uncouth), torpe (awkward, blockish, blundering, bumbling, butterfingered, butterfingers, duffer, dull, dullish, fathead, heavy, labored, laboured, left handed, left-hander, logy, lumberingly, rough, shiftless, slow witted, slowcoach, slowpoke, stodgily, thick, torpid, wall eyed), desmañado (gauche, impractical, left handed, maladroit), desgraciado (loser, miserable, poor, sad sack, schlemiel, skate, unfortunate, unhandily, unhappy, unlucky, unskillful, wretch), ñango (awkward, short-legged, weak). (various references)

Swedish

tafatt (awkward, flatfooted, gauche, gawky, heavy-handed, inept, left handed, maladroit, tag), oskicklig (artless, awkward, inapt, inartful), klumpig (awkward, cloddish, Cloggy, clownish, cumbersome, elephantine, flatfooted, gauche, heavy-handed, hulking, inelegant, inept, left handed, lumpish, uncouth, ungainly, unwieldy, wooden), drumlig (loutish, oafish). (various references)

Thai

ไม่คล่อง, ซุ่มซ่าม (gawky). (various references)

Turkish

sarsak (a dithering idiot, Dickey, dicky, doddering, doddery, jerky, palsied, rocky, shaky, tottering, tottery), sakar (awkward, butterfingered, gawky, heavy-handed, left handed, maladroit, oaf, sacchar-, ungainly, unhandy), hantal (bulky, chubby, cumbersome, cumbrous, elephantine, gross, hulking, hulky, loutish, lubber, lumbering, lumpish, plodding, ponderous, rude, sesquipedalian, soggy, stodgy, ungainly, ungraceful, unwieldy, yahoo), hödük (boor, boorish, bumpkin, churl, clodhopper, clown, country bumpkin, dry stick, dull stick, hayseed, Hick, lubber, oaf, roughneck, rube, ruffian, rustic, stick, yob, yokel), beceriksiz (awkward, bungler, bungling, Duff, duffer, feckless, flat-footed, fumbling, gauche, gawky, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy-handed, helpless, impractical, inapt, incompetent, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, inept, inexpert, left handed, lubber, maladroit, manque, ne'er do well, never-do-well, oaf, oafish, resourceless, rude, shiftless, slouch, unaccomplished, unhandy, unskilful, untalented), acemi (apprentice, beginner, bungler, callow, catechumen, colt, cub, dabster, green, greenhorn, guiltless, half-baked, inept, inexperienced, inexperienced hand, inexpert, jackaroo, johnny-come-lately, learner, neophyte, new, novice, Prentice, punk, raw, recruit, runnynose, simple, stooge, strange, stranger, sucking, tenderfoot, tiro, trainee, tyro, unbaked, unfledged, unseasoned, unskilled, untrained, unversed, young, young in one's job). (various references)

Turkmen 

nalajedeяin (inept). (various references)

Ukrainian

грубий (abrupt, artless, barbaresque, barbaric, base, bearish, boarish, broad, brusque, brute, caddish, chuffy, churlish, clownish, coarse, coarse grained, crass, crude, gross, hard boiled, homely, ill bred, knockabout, offhand, plebeian, primitive, ribald, rough, rough spoken, rude, scratchy, shaggy, surly, swinish, truculent, uncouth), нетактовий, неоковирний (plateresque), незграбний (angular, artless, awkward, blundering, bouncing, bovine, cubbish, cumbersome, fumbling, gangling, gauche, gawky, gnarled, graceless, ham-fisted, hulking, lob, lubberly, maladroit, oafish, shamble, splay, splayfooted, uncouth, ungainly, unskilful, wooden), неповороткий (gauche, inert, laggard, lagger, lumpish, snail-paced, unwieldy), безтактний. (various references)

Vietnamese 

vụng về (butter-fingered, clumpish, clumsily, gauche, heavy-handed, loutish, maladroit, rough-hewn, stern foremost), vụng (artless, unhandy, unskilful, unworkmanlike). (various references)

Welsh

clogyrnaidd (rough, rugged), carfaglog, carbwl (awkward), trwstan (awkward, untoward), trwsgl (awkward, bungling), llibin (awkward, feeble, limp), lletchwith (awkward), annillyn (inelegant, ugly, unseemly), annethau, anhyfedr, anghelfydd (unskillful), anfytynaidd, afrwydd (awkward, difficult, stiff), afrosgo (ungainly, unwieldy), abrwysg (drunken). (various references)

rudis. (various references)

clumsid. (various references)

Misspellings

"Clumsy" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: chlamys, climsy, clumpsy, clums, clumsey, Cluney, cluny, clusmsy, clusy, Cumpsty, flumsy. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: muscly.

-1 letter: culms.

-2 letters: culm, lums, scum, slum.

-3 letters: cum, lum, mus, sly, sum, yum.

-4 letters: mu, my, um, us.

+1 letter: lyceums.

+2 letters: clumsily.

+3 letters: musically, myoclonus.

+4 letters: collyriums, compulsory, consumedly, cumbrously, muscularly, musicality, musicianly, musicology.

+5 letters: clamorously, combustibly, customarily, lycopodiums, maliciously, masculinely, masculinity, muscularity, myoclonuses.