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...

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) (anpʿuytʿ)
• 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)

• 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: drölinn, släpphent

not elegant or well-planned

• Armenian: անշնորհք (hy) (anšnorhkʿ)
• 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)

• 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)
• Latin: inhabilis
• Polish: niezgrabny (pl) m

• 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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. 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 (bedhanga), ^{(please verify)} adaksha (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) (bolhi)
• 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)
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} lepish‎ (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)

• Swedish: , klant (sv) c, drummel (sv) c

See also

• clumsies

Anagrams

• cumyls, muscly