clumsy

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈklʌmzi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

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

   • 1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], “The Prologue”, in Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew Lownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:

     The ravviſh danke of clumzie vvinter ramps / The fluent ſummers vaine: and drizling ſleete / Chilleth the vvan bleak cheek of the numd earth, / VVhilſt ſnarling guſts nibble the iuyceles leaues, / From the nak't ſhuddring branch; […]

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

Derived terms

• beclumpse
• clumsily
• clumsiness

Translations

awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous

Arabic: أَخْرَق (ʔaḵraq) Egyptian Arabic: متكعبل m (mitkaʕbil), أهوج m (ahwag), أرعن m (arʕan) Armenian: անփույթ (hy) (anpʻuytʻ) 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), 笨 (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) Hindi: बेढंगा (beḍhaṅgā), बेसलीक़ा (beslīqā), फूहड़ (hi) (phūhaṛ) Hungarian: balkezes (hu), esetlen (hu), ügyetlen (hu) Icelandic: klaufalegur (is) Ido: plumpa (io) Irish: ciotach, tútach, liobarnach, amscaí, anásta 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) Kalmyk: эвго (evgo) 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: Bokmål: klønete (no), klønet, klossete, klosset, trehendt Nynorsk: 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), taba (es) (Peru), manazas (es) Swedish: klumpig (sv), klantig (sv), drumlig Tagalog: asiwa Thai: ซุ่มซ่าม (th) (sûm-sâam), เงอะงะ (th) (ngə́-ngá) Turkish: sakar (tr) Ukrainian: незгра́бний (nezhrábnyj) Vietnamese: vụng về (vi) Yiddish: לעפּיש (lepish)

not elegant or well-planned

Armenian: անշնորհք (hy) (anšnorhkʻ) Czech: nevhodný (cs) Dutch: onhandig (nl) Estonian: rohmakas Finnish: kömpelö (fi) German: tollpatschig (de), ungeschickt (de), plump (de), klobig (de) Hindi: भद्दा (hi) (bhaddā), बेढंगा (beḍhaṅgā), बेडौल (hi) (beḍaul) Hungarian: ügyetlen (hu), otromba (hu), szakszerűtlen (hu) Irish: tútach, ciotach, amscaí Italian: malfatto (it), rozzo (it), sgraziato (it) Latin: inelegans m Norwegian: Bokmål: klønete (no), klønete (no), klossete, klosset Nynorsk: klønete, klossete 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

Czech: nešikovný (cs) German: unbeholfen (de), unhandlich, klobig (de), sperrig (de), plump (de) Hindi: भद्दा (hi) (bhaddā), बेढंगा (beḍhaṅgā), हबड़ा (hi) (habṛā), बेडौल (hi) (beḍaul) Italian: grossolano (it) Latin: inhabilis Polish: niezgrabny (pl) m Romanian: grosolan (ro), butucănos (ro) Russian: неудо́бный (ru) (neudóbnyj) Serbo-Croatian: nezgrapan (sh), glomazan (sh) Spanish: torpe (es) Swedish: otymplig (sv), klumpig (sv), svårhanterlig (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

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) अदक्ष (hi) (adakṣ) 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) Persian: (please verify) کیری (fa) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: (please verify) неспретан Roman: (please verify) nespretan (sh) Slovak: (please verify) nemotorný Swahili: (please verify) dole 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

clumsy (plural clumsies)

1. (informal, fairly rare) A clumsy person.
   • 1934, P[amela] L[yndon] Travers, “Bad Tuesday”, in Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins; 1), London: Gerald Howe Ltd […], →OCLC, page 82:

     On the stairs he met Ellen, the housemaid, and as he passed her he knocked the hot-water jug out of her hand. “Well, you are a clumsy,” said Ellen, as she bent down to mop up the water.

Synonyms

• butterfingers
• galoot
• klutz

Translations

clumsy person

German: Tölpel (de) m Norwegian: Bokmål: kløne m or f, klossmajor m, klodrian m Persian: چلاغ (čolâġ) Spanish: taba (es) m or f (Peru), manazas (es) m or f Swedish: , klant (sv) c, drummel (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hindi: (please verify) भोंदू (bhondū)

See also

• clumsies

Anagrams

• cumyls, muscly