clumsy

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• 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...

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

Translations

awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous

• Armenian: անփույթ (hy) (anpʻuytʻ)
• 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)
• Estonian: kohmakas (et)
• Finnish: kömpelö (fi)
• French: gauche (fr), maladroit (fr), lourd (fr)
• Galician: torpe (gl) m or f, zoupón, zoupeiro (gl)
• German: tollpatschig (de), ungeschickt (de), unbeholfen, schwerfällig (de), plump (de), klobig (de)
• Greek: αδέξιος (el) (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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 不器用な (ja) (ぶきような, bukiyō na), ぶきっちょ (bukitcho)
• Korean: 서투르다 (ko) (seotureuda)
• Latin: inconcinnus
• Maori: pakihawa, ninipa, pekengohe, tahangoi
• Norman: maladrait
• Norwegian: klønete, klossete
• Persian: چلفتی (fa) (čolofti)
• 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
• Slovene: neroden (sl)
• Spanish: patoso m, torpe (es), desmañado (es), bruto (es)
• Swedish: klumpig (sv), klantig (sv), drumlig
• Tagalog: galawgaw
• Ukrainian: незгра́бний (nezhrábnyj)
• Vietnamese: vụng về (vi)
• Westrobothnian: ,

not elegant or well-planned

• Armenian: անշնորհք (hy) (anšnorhkʻ)
• Czech: nevhodný
• 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, rozzo (it), sgraziato (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: inelegans m
• Persian: قناس (fa) (qenâs)
• Portuguese: desgracioso (pt)
• Romanian: grosolan (ro)
• Russian: гру́бый (ru) (grúbyj), некраси́вый (ru) (nekrasívyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-innealta
• Spanish: torpe (es)
• Swedish: osmidig (sv)

awkward or inefficient in use or construction

• Czech: nešikovný
• German: unbeholfen, unhandlich, klobig (de), sperrig (de), plump (de)
• Italian: grossolano (it)
• Polish: niezgrabny (pl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: grosolan (ro), butucănos (ro)
• Russian: неудо́бный (ru) (neudóbnyj)
• 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)} 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} lepish

Noun

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

• butterfingers
• galoot
• klutz

Translations

clumsy person

• German: Tölpel (de) m
• Persian: چلاغ (čolâğ)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swedish: , klant (sv) c, drummel (sv) c

See also

• clumsies

Anagrams

• cumyls, muscly