ham-fisted

See also: hamfisted

English

WOTD – 20 August 2024

Etymology

PIE word *kónh₂m

PIE word *pénkʷe

From ham (“thigh and buttock of an animal slaughtered for meat”) +‎ fisted (adjective), probably referring to someone being clumsy as if they have hams at the end of their arms instead of hands.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhæmˌfɪstɪd/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ham-fist‧ed

Adjective

ham-fisted (comparative more ham-fisted, superlative most ham-fisted) (informal)

1. Lacking skill in physical movement with the hands; clumsy.

   Synonyms: cack-handed, ham-handed, heavy-handed, mutton-fisted, undexterous

   Antonyms: dexterous, skilful

   • 1938 April, C[ecil] S[cott] Forester [pseudonym; Cecil Louis Troughton Smith], chapter V, in A Ship of the Line, Greenwich edition, London: Michael Joseph, published 1951 (February 1962 printing), →OCLC, pages 40–41:

     "God damn and blast all you hamfisted yokels!" he was saying. "And you, sir, down there. Take that grin off your face and be more careful, or I'll have you clapped under hatches to sail with us today. Easy, there, easy! Christ, rum at seven guineas an anker isn't meant to be dropped like pig iron!"

2. (by extension) Lacking skill in general; incompetent.

   Synonyms: bungling; see also Thesaurus:unskilled

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:skilled

   • 2008 December 5, “Everyone benefits from prorogue”, in Michael Den Tandt, editor, The Sun Times, volume 156, number 285, Owen Sound, Ont.: Osprey Media Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A4, column 1:

     [Stephen] Harper has a few weeks' grace, during which he and his ham-fisted finance minister, Jim Flaherty, can ponder the error of their ways.

   • 2019 November 13, Dorian Lynskey, “Bowie's Books and Why Bowie Matters review – a manic turnover of new ideas”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-16:

     In 1973, Sonia Orwell broke David Bowie's heart by refusing him permission to adapt her late husband [George Orwell]'s final novel into a rock musical. She had rebuffed every request since the hamfisted 1956 movie version starring Edmond O'Brien, and was never likely to make an exception for a glam-rock dandy, but he was sorely aggrieved.

   • 2023 September 6, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Leaderless and Rudderless”, in Rail, number 991, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:

     What an utter farce. Just like DfT [the Department for Transport]'s ham-fisted, blundering ticket office closure programme.

Alternative forms

• hamfisted

Derived terms

• ham-fistedly, hamfistedly
• ham-fistedness, hamfistedness

Related terms

• ham radio (possibly related etymologically)

Translations

lacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy

• Bavarian: påtschert
• Bulgarian: несръ́чен (bg) (nesrǎ́čen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: lomp (nl), onbeholpen (nl), onhandig (nl)
• Finnish: kömpelö (fi), poropeukalo (fi)
• French: maladroit (fr)
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• German: plump (de), unbeholfen (de)
• Hungarian: ügyetlen (hu)
• Norwegian: klomsete, klønete (no)
• Portuguese: desengonçado
• Russian: нело́вкий (ru) (nelóvkij), неуклю́жий (ru) (neukljúžij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нѐспретан

  Roman: nèspretan (sh)

• Swedish: valhänt (sv)
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

lacking skill in general — see incompetent

Further reading

• “ham-fisted, adj.”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “ham-fisted, adj.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Collins English Dictionary, 10th edition, London: Collins, 2010, →ISBN.
• “ham-fisted, adj.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• made shift