Meaning of the word clumsy

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Possibly from an alteration of clumsed (benumbed) or from clumse (a stupid fellow; lout) +‎ -y. More at clumse.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈklʌmzi/

Adjective[edit]

clumsy (comparative clumsier, superlative clumsiest)

  1. Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous.

    He’s very clumsy. I wouldn’t trust him with carrying the dishes.

  2. Not elegant or well-planned, lacking tact or subtlety.

    It is a clumsy solution, but it might work for now.

    What a clumsy joke

  3. Awkward or inefficient in use or construction, difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape.

Derived terms[edit]

  • clumsily
  • clumsiness

Translations[edit]

awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous

  • Arabic: أَخْرَق(ʔaḵraq)
    Egyptian Arabic: متكعبل‎ m (mitkaʿbil), أهوج‎ m (ahwag), أرعن‎ m (arʿan)
  • Armenian: անփույթ (hy) (anpʿuytʿ)
  • Azerbaijani: hozəki
  • Belarusian: нязгра́бны (njazhrábny)
  • Bulgarian: тромав (bg) (tromav), несръчен (bg) (nesrǎčen)
  • Catalan: maldestre (ca), barroer (ca), sapastre
  • Cebuano: gukam, kumaw
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 粗笨 (zh) (cūbèn),  (zh) (bèn)
  • Czech: nemotorný, neohrabaný
  • Dutch: onhandig (nl), stuntelig (nl)
  • Esperanto: mallerta
  • Estonian: kohmakas (et)
  • Finnish: kömpelö (fi)
  • French: empoté (fr), gauche (fr), lourd (fr), maladroit (fr)
  • Galician: torpe (gl) m or f, zoupón, zoupeiro (gl)
  • German: tollpatschig (de), ungeschickt (de), unbeholfen (de), schwerfällig (de), plump (de), klobig (de)
  • Greek: αδέξιος (el) (adéxios)
    Ancient Greek: ἀδέξιος (adéxios)
  • Hungarian: balkezes (hu), esetlen (hu), ügyetlen (hu)
  • Icelandic: klaufalegur (is)
  • Ido: plumpa (io)
  • Irish: ciotach, tútach, liobarnach
  • Italian: goffo (it), impacciato (it), maldestro (it)
  • Japanese: 不器用な (ja) (ぶきような, bukiyō na), ぶきっちょ (bukitcho)
  • Kapampangan: buraldal
  • Korean: 서투르다 (ko) (seotureuda)
  • Latin: inconcinnus
  • Macedonian: несмасен (nesmasen), трапав (trapav), тромав (tromav), смотан (smotan)
  • Maori: pakihawa, ninipa, pekengohe, tahangoi
  • Norman: maladrait
  • Norwegian: klønete, klossete
  • Persian: چلفتی (fa) (čolofti)
  • Plautdietsch: onjeschekjt
  • Polish: niezdarny (pl) m, niezgrabny (pl)
  • Portuguese: desajeitado (pt), atrapalhado (pt), desastrado (pt), despassarado m (Portugal)
  • Romanian: stângaci (ro), neîndemânatic (ro), greoi (ro)
  • Romansch: maladester
  • Russian: неуклю́жий (ru) (neukljúžij), нело́вкий (ru) (nelóvkij), неповоро́тливый (ru) (nepovorótlivyj)
  • Scottish Gaelic: cearbach, liobasta
  • Serbo-Croatian: šlampav (sh), trapav (sh)
  • Slovene: neroden (sl)
  • Spanish: patoso, torpe (es), desmañado (es), bruto (es)
  • Swedish: klumpig (sv), klantig (sv), drumlig
  • Tagalog: galawgaw
  • Turkish: sakar (tr)
  • Ukrainian: незгра́бний (nezhrábnyj)
  • Vietnamese: vụng về (vi)
  • Yiddish: לעפּיש(lepish)

not elegant or well-planned

  • Armenian: անշնորհք (hy) (anšnorhkʿ)
  • Czech: nevhodný (cs)
  • Dutch: onhandig (nl)
  • Estonian: rohmakas
  • Finnish: kömpelö (fi)
  • German: tollpatschig (de), ungeschickt (de), plump (de), klobig (de)
  • Hungarian: ügyetlen (hu), otromba (hu), szakszerűtlen (hu)
  • Italian: malfatto (it), rozzo (it), sgraziato (it)
  • Latin: inelegans m
  • Persian: قناس (fa) (qenâs)
  • Portuguese: desgracioso (pt)
  • Romanian: grosolan (ro)
  • Russian: гру́бый (ru) (grúbyj), некраси́вый (ru) (nekrasívyj)
  • Scottish Gaelic: mì-innealta
  • Serbo-Croatian: glomazan (sh), nezgrapan (sh), trapav (sh)
  • Spanish: torpe (es)
  • Swedish: osmidig (sv)

awkward or inefficient in use or construction

Translations to be checked

  • Albanian: (please verify) ngathët (sq)
  • Arabic: (please verify) أخرق
  • Esperanto: (please verify) mallerta
  • Georgian: (please verify) უხეში (uxeši)
  • Hebrew: (please verify) גַּמְלוֹנִי (he)
  • Hindi: (please verify) bedhanga, (please verify) adaksha
  • Indonesian: (please verify) canggung (id)
  • Italian: (please verify) impacciato (it)
  • Japanese: (please verify) 繁雑 (ja) (はんざつ, hanzatsu)
  • Korean: (please verify) 서투른 (seotureun)
  • Latvian: (please verify) neveikls
  • Mongolian: (please verify) болхи (mn) (bolxi)
  • Norwegian: (please verify) klønet
  • Persian: (please verify) کیری
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: (please verify) неспретан
    Roman: (please verify) nespretan (sh)
  • Slovak: (please verify) nemotorný
  • Swahili: (please verify) dole
  • Tagalog: (please verify) tatanga-tanga, galawgaw, (please verify) wala sa ayos
  • Thai: (please verify) ซุ่มซ่าม (th) (sûm-sâam)
  • Turkish: (please verify) hantal (tr)
  • Ukrainian: (please verify) незграбний (nezhrabnyj)
  • Uyghur: (please verify) kalanpay
  • Vietnamese: (please verify) vụng (vi)
  • Welsh: (please verify) afrosgo (cy)

Noun[edit]

clumsy (plural clumsies)

  1. (informal, fairly rare) A clumsy person.
    • 1934, P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins:

      “Well, you are a clumsy,” said Ellen, as she bent down to mop up the water. “That was for your father’s shaving.”

Synonyms[edit]

  • butterfingers
  • galoot
  • klutz

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

  • clumsies

Anagrams[edit]

  • cumyls, muscly

  • Top Definitions
  • Synonyms
  • Quiz
  • Related Content
  • Examples
  • British

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

[ kluhm-zee ]

/ ˈklʌm zi /

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.


adjective, clum·si·er, clum·si·est.

awkward in movement or action; without skill or grace: He is very clumsy and is always breaking things.

awkwardly done or made; unwieldy; ill-contrived: He made a clumsy, embarrassed apology.

QUIZ

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Origin of clumsy

1590–1600; clums benumbed with cold (now obsolete) + -y1; akin to Middle English clumsen to be stiff with cold, dialectal Swedish klumsig benumbed, awkward, klums numbskull, Old Norse klumsa lockjaw. See clam2

OTHER WORDS FROM clumsy

clum·si·ly, adverbclum·si·ness, noun

Words nearby clumsy

Cluj, Cluj-Napoca, clumber spaniel, clump, clumsiness, clumsy, clung, Cluniac, clunk, clunker, clunkhead

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to clumsy

bulky, heavy-handed, inept, ponderous, ungainly, unwieldy, all thumbs, blundering, bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, clownish, crude, elephantine, gauche, gawkish, gawky, graceless, ham-handed, heavy

How to use clumsy in a sentence

  • Equipped with foreign DNA, the little guys nevertheless seemed totally normal, nosing around the lab and running everywhere without obvious clumsy stumbles.

  • The colonizers spun this through their clumsy tongues and came up with “carel” as a sweeping term for all the food the Indigenous people ate.

  • Each of Liverpool’s first two goals received a Leeds reply within 10 minutes, but a clumsy lunge by Rodrigo Moreno gave Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah the opportunity to convert the winning penalty shot.

  • Reynolds and Mani are very good at playing hapless and clumsy with endearing rapport, and their general helplessness comes off not as a stale joke but as a concerning hint of things to come.

  • Here’s a practical guide to finding the glass out there for you, whether you’re frugal, clumsy, or just running out of kitchen space.

  • He must be pretending to be something, striking some kind of clumsy tribal note.

  • But Silva, hapless Silva, got his merely for tangling with the Colombian goalkeeper in a clumsy melee of limbs.

  • Season one of OITNB chronicled her clumsy, fumbling attempts to get her legs under her so she could run for safety.

  • Ignore the clumsy comparisons of the Syria War and the Balkans War.

  • Rather, after weeks of clumsy diplomacy, they consciously led their nations into battle.

  • Scientists tell us that from the point of view of optics the human eye is a clumsy instrument poorly contrived for its work.

  • With which magnanimous sentiment he turned on his clumsy heel, and entered his apartment again.

  • They merely used such instruments as fate offered, however trivial, however clumsy.

  • He loses sight of the supreme fact that after all, in its own poor, clumsy fashion, the machine does work.

  • When the owner can afford it, an ample supply of cushions and shawls makes the clumsy vehicle more comfortable for its occupant.

British Dictionary definitions for clumsy


adjective -sier or -siest

lacking in skill or physical coordination

awkwardly constructed or contrived

Derived forms of clumsy

clumsily, adverbclumsiness, noun

Word Origin for clumsy

C16 (in obsolete sense: benumbed with cold; hence, awkward): perhaps from C13 dialect clumse to benumb, probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish dialect klumsig numb

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

  • 1
    clumsy

    1) неуклю́жий, нело́вкий; неповоро́тливый

    2) гру́бый, топо́рный

    3) беста́ктный

    Англо-русский словарь Мюллера > clumsy

  • 2
    clumsy

    Персональный Сократ > clumsy

  • 3
    clumsy

    [ʹklʌmzı]

    1. неуклюжий, неповоротливый

    clumsy fingers — неуклюжие /неловкие/ пальцы

    clumsy person — неуклюжий человек, увалень

    2. 1) грубый, топорный

    clumsy furniture — неуклюжая /топорная/ мебель

    2) грубый, неизящный, топорный ()

    clumsy verse — неуклюжий /нескладный/ стих

    3. грубый, бестактный

    clumsy joke — неуместная /нелепая/ шутка

    НБАРС > clumsy

  • 4
    clumsy

    AWKWARD, CLUMSY

    Awkward может употребляться атрибутивно в значении ‘неизящный’ (о движениях, манерах), ‘неумелый’, а также ‘неловкий, полный замешательства’: awkward gait (gestures, manners), awkward dancer (skater), awkward silence (situation). Awkward в предикативном употреблении может сочетаться с дополнением, имеющим предлоги in и at. Предлог in употребляется, когда речь идет о постоянном, характерном признаке: to be awkward in one’s gait (gestures, manners). At имеет в виду случайное или легко устранимое неумение: to be awkward at tennis (at skating, at dancing). Clumsy означает ‘неповоротливый, громоздкий, скованный в движениях’: clumsy boy, clumsy workman, clumsy animal, clumsy fingers. Clumsy, как и awkward, может употребляться предикативно в сочетании с дополнением, имеющим предлог at: to be clumsy at cricket. Awkward, в отличие от clumsy, встречается также в метафорическом употреблении: there was an awkward silence ‘наступило неловкое молчание’.

    Difficulties of the English language (lexical reference) English-Russian dictionary > clumsy

  • 5
    clumsy

    Англо-русский синонимический словарь > clumsy

  • 6
    clumsy

    [‘klʌmzɪ]

    adj

    неуклюжий, неловкий, неповоротливый, нескладный

    clumsy child


    — clumsy gesture
    — clumsy person
    — clumsy movement
    — clumsy remark
    — clumsy landing
    — clumsy fingers

    English-Russian combinatory dictionary > clumsy

  • 7
    clumsy

    1. a неуклюжий, неповоротливый

    2. a грубый, топорный

    3. a грубый, неизящный, топорный

    4. a грубый, бестактный

    Синонимический ряд:

    1. awkward (adj.) awkward; gauche; gawky; halting; ham-handed; lubberly; lumbering; lumpish; maladroit; oafish; splathering; splay; uncouth; ungainly; ungraceful; unhappy; wooden

    2. brash (adj.) brash; impolitic; indelicate; tactless

    3. bulky (adj.) bulky; cumbersome; cumbrous; inconvenient; unmanageable; unwieldy

    4. incompetent (adj.) helpless; inadequate; incompetent; unaccomplished; unfit; unqualified

    5. inept (adj.) amateurish; blundering; bumbling; bungling; gauche; heavy-handed; inapt; indelicate; inept; inexpert; tactless; unhandy; unskilful; unskillful

    Антонимический ряд:

    artistic; clever; competent; dexterous; expert; facile; graceful; handy; manageable; neat; skillful

    English-Russian base dictionary > clumsy

  • 8
    clumsy

    English-Russian big medical dictionary > clumsy

  • 9
    clumsy

    [ˈklʌmzɪ]

    clumsy бестактный clumsy грубый, топорный clumsy неуклюжий, неловкий; неповоротливый

    English-Russian short dictionary > clumsy

  • 10
    clumsy

    ˈklʌmzɪ прил.
    1) неловкий, застенчивый;
    неповоротливый, нескладный Syn: awkward, gawky, lumbering, ungainly Ant: adroit, clever, dexterous, graceful, handy, skilful, sure, uncouth
    2) грубый, суровый( о пище, ткани), топорный, неаккуратно сделанный Syn: coarse, uncouth
    3) невоспитанный, бестактный Syn: tactless, bungling
    4) юр. недействительный, потерявший силу, с истекшим сроком действия (о договоре, соглашении и т.д.) Syn: inept
    неуклюжий, неповоротливый — * fingers неуклюжие пальцы — * person неуклюжий человек, увалень — * landing (авиация) неудачная посадка грубый, топорный — * furniture неуклюжая мебель — * shoes неудобные туфли — * forgery грубая фальшивка грубый, неизящный, топорный ( о стиле, слоге) — * verse неуклюжий стих — * speech нескладная речь грубый, бестактный — * joke неуместная шутка
    clumsy бестактный ~ грубый, топорный ~ неуклюжий, неловкий;
    неповоротливый

    Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > clumsy

  • 11
    clumsy

    English-russian dctionary of diplomacy > clumsy

  • 12
    clumsy

    The Americanisms. English-Russian dictionary. > clumsy

  • 13
    clumsy

    Англо-русский технический словарь > clumsy

  • 14
    clumsy

    [‘klʌmzɪ]

    1) Общая лексика: бестактный, грубый, корявый, находчивый, неизящный, неловкий, неповоротливый, нескладный, неуклюжий, проворный, сообразительный, топорный, умелый, топорный , косолапый, недотёпистый, невоспитанный, неумёха

    Универсальный англо-русский словарь > clumsy

  • 15
    clumsy

    [`klʌmzɪ]

    неловкий, застенчивый; неповоротливый, нескладный

    грубый, суровый, топорный, неаккуратно сделанный

    невоспитанный, бестактный

    недействительный, потерявший силу, с истекшим сроком действия

    Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь > clumsy

  • 16
    clumsy

    adjective

    1) неуклюжий, неловкий; неповоротливый

    2) грубый, топорный

    3) бестактный

    Syn:

    awkward, bungling, gawky, inept, lumbering, ungainly

    Ant:

    adroit, clever, dexterous, graceful, handy, skilful, sure

    * * *

    (a) неуклюжий

    * * *

    * * *

    [clum·sy || ‘klʌmzɪ]
    неуклюжий, неповоротливый, безрукий; грубый, топорный, мешковатый; бестактный

    * * *

    аляповат

    аляповатый

    бестактный

    грубый

    мешковатый

    неловкий

    неповоротливый

    неуклюж

    неуклюжий

    топорный

    * * *

    1) неловкий
    2) грубый, суровый (о пище, ткани), топорный, неаккуратно сделанный

    Новый англо-русский словарь > clumsy

  • 17
    clumsy

    неуклюжий; неловкий; неповоротливый; нескладный; топорный; бестактный

    English-Russian dictionary of technical terms > clumsy

  • 18
    clumsy

    [‘klʌmzɪ]

    прил.

    1) неповоротливый, неуклюжий, нескладный, неловкий

    Syn:

    Ant:

    2) грубый, топорный

    Syn:

    3) невоспитанный, бестактный

    Syn:

    Англо-русский современный словарь > clumsy

  • 19
    clumsy

    аляповат

    аляповатый

    бестактный

    грубый

    мешковатый

    неловкий

    неповоротливый

    неуклюж

    неуклюжий

    топорный

    English-Russian smart dictionary > clumsy

  • 20
    clumsy

    English-Russian information technology > clumsy

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См. также в других словарях:

  • Clumsy — ist ein Popsong mit Hip Hop Elementen der US amerikanischen Sängerin und Rapperin Fergie. Clumsy wurde für Fergies Solo Debütalbum The Dutchess aufgenommen. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Daten 2 Musikvideo 3 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Clumsy — «Clumsy» Sencillo de Fergie del álbum The Dutchess Formato CD Single Descarga Digital Airplay Grabación 2006 Género(s) Pop, R B …   Wikipedia Español

  • Clumsy — «Clumsy» Сингл Ферги из альбома The Dutchess Выпущен 25 сентября 2007 Формат CD Записан 2006 Жанр …   Википедия

  • Clumsy — Clum sy, a. [Compar. {Clumsier}; superl. {Clumsiest}.] [OE. clumsed benumbed, fr. clumsen to be benumbed; cf. Icel. klumsa lockjaw, dial. Sw. klummsen benumbed with cold. Cf. 1st {Clam}, and 1st {Clamp}.] 1. Stiff or benumbed, as with cold.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Clumsy — (or clumsiness) may refer to: Behaviour Accident proneness, the likelihood that certain people suffer accidents Dyspraxia, a disorder which brings about clumsiness A euphemism for someone with Motor skills disorder Music Clumsy (Our Lady Peace… …   Wikipedia

  • clumsy — [klum′zē] adj. clumsier, clumsiest [ME clumsid, numb with cold, pp. of clumsen, to benumb < ON base akin to Swed dial klummsen, to benumb with the cold; akin to CLAM: for IE base see CLIMB] 1. lacking grace or skill in movement; awkward 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • clumsy — index incompetent, inept (incompetent), ponderous, uncouth, unpolitic Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • clumsy — (adj.) 1590s, from M.E. clumsid numb with cold (14c.), pp. of clumsen to benumb, from O.N. klumsa, intensive of kluma to make motionless. Related: Clumsily; clumsiness …   Etymology dictionary

  • clumsy — *awkward, gauche, maladroit, inept Analogous words: *rude, rough, green, callow, uncouth: loutish, clownish, boorish (see under BOOR): *stiff, wooden, tense, rigid Antonyms: dexterous, adroit: facile Contrasted words: deft (see DEXTEROUS):… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • clumsy — [adj] not agile; awkward all thumbs*, blundering, blunderous, bulky, bumbling, bungling, butterfingered*, clownish, crude, elephantine, gauche, gawkish, gawky, graceless, ham handed*, heavy, heavy handed, helpless, hulking, ill shaped,… …   New thesaurus

  • clumsy — ► ADJECTIVE (clumsier, clumsiest) 1) awkward in movement or performance. 2) difficult to use; unwieldy. 3) tactless. DERIVATIVES clumsily adverb clumsiness noun. ORIGI …   English terms dictionary



clumsy

/ˈklʌmzi/

adjective

Britannica Dictionary definition of CLUMSY

[also more clumsy; most clumsy]

:

moving or doing things in a very awkward way and tending to drop or break things

  • I’m sorry about spilling your wine—that was very clumsy of me.

  • I have very clumsy hands and tend to drop things.

  • He is very clumsy. = He is a very clumsy person.

:

badly or awkwardly made or done

  • She made a clumsy attempt at a joke.

:

hard to use

:

awkward to handle

  • a clumsy tool

— clumsily

/ˈklʌmzəli/

adverb

  • They dealt with the situation clumsily.

— clumsiness

/ˈklʌmzinəs/

noun

[noncount]

  • It was my own clumsiness that caused the accident.

  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.
Inflections of ‘clumsy‘ (adj):
clumsier
adj comparative
clumsiest
adj superlative

WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English © 2023

clum•sy /ˈklʌmzi/USA pronunciation  
adj., -si•er, -si•est. 

  1. awkward in movement or use;
    lacking skill:a clumsy dancer.
  2. awkwardly or poorly done:a clumsy apology.
  3. awkward or difficult to control or handle:The heavy motorcycle was clumsy on the road.

clum•si•ly, adv. 
clum•si•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2023

clum•sy 
(klumzē),USA pronunciation adj., -si•er, -si•est. 

  1. awkward in movement or action;
    without skill or grace:He is very clumsy and is always breaking things.
  2. awkwardly done or made;
    unwieldy;
    ill-contrived:He made a clumsy, embarrassed apology.
  • 1590–1600; clums benumbed with cold (now obsolete) + —y1; akin to Middle English clumsen to be stiff with cold, dialect, dialectal Swedish klumsig benumbed, awkward, klums numbskull, Old Norse klumsa lockjaw. See clam2

clumsi•ly, adv. 
clumsi•ness, n. 

    • 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged ungraceful, ungainly, lumbering, lubberly.
    • 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged unhandy, unskillful, maladroit, inexpert, bungling, bumbling, heavy-handed, inept.


    • 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged adroit, skillful.


Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

clumsy /ˈklʌmzɪ/ adj ( -sier, -siest)

  1. lacking in skill or physical coordination
  2. awkwardly constructed or contrived

Etymology: 16th Century (in obsolete sense: benumbed with cold; hence, awkward): perhaps from C13 dialect clumse to benumb, probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish dialect klumsig numb

ˈclumsily adv ˈclumsiness n

clumsy‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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