maladroit

English

WOTD – 1 January 2016

Etymology

From French maladroit, from mal- (“bad, badly”) + adroit (“skilful”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmæl.ə.ˈdɹɔɪt/

Adjective

maladroit (comparative more maladroit, superlative most maladroit)

1. Not adroit; awkward, clumsy, inept. [from 1670s]
   • 2003 March, Jonathan Rauch, “Caring for Your Introvert”, in The Atlantic Monthly‎^[1], archived from the original on 15 March 2010:

     Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate?

Derived terms

• maladroitly
• maladroitness

Translations

not adroit; clumsy

• Catalan: maldestre (ca)
• Dutch: onhandig (nl), onbeholpen (nl)
• Esperanto: mallerta
• French: maladroit (fr)
• Galician: mangariñas m, toutón m, fozón m, baldrocas m, torgalleiro m, támaro m, tarulo m, tamolas m, zoupón m, moucán m, chouso m, crenca m
• German: ungeschickt (de), unbeholfen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: klossete, ubehjelpelig
• Spanish: desacertado (es), torpe (es)
• Swedish: oskicklig, klumpig (sv)
• Tagalog: padaskul-daskol

Noun

maladroit (plural maladroits)

1. Somebody who is inept, or lacking in skill, or talent.

Anagrams

• matroidal

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French

Etymology

mal- +‎ adroit

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.la.dʁwa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

maladroit (feminine maladroite, masculine plural maladroits, feminine plural maladroites)

1. awkward; clumsy; maladroit

Antonyms

• adroit
• habile
• dextre

Derived terms

• maladroitement

Related terms

• maladresse

Descendants

• English: maladroit

Further reading

• “maladroit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.