awkward in movement or action; without skill or grace: He is very clumsy and is always breaking things.
awkwardly done or made; unwieldy; ill-contrived: He made a clumsy, embarrassed apology.
Origin of clumsy
1590–1600; clums benumbed with cold (now obsolete) + -y1; akin to Middle English clumsen to be stiff with cold, dialectal Swedish klumsig benumbed, awkward, klums numbskull, Old Norse klumsa lockjaw. See clam2
Here’s a practical guide to finding the glass out there for you, whether you’re frugal, clumsy, or just running out of kitchen space.
Sommeliers Pick the Best Wine Glasses for Every Scenario|Priya Krishna|October 16, 2020|Eater
A cup holder, on the flat portion of the laptop tray, keeps mugs of coffee and tea from spilling—making this a great pick for even the clumsiest among us.
Home and office products that make sure-fire gifts|PopSci Commerce Team|October 8, 2020|Popular Science
Truth be told, he’s always been a clumsy fit for this league of superstars with well-earned street cred — the Allen Iversons and Stephon Marburys.
Kobe Bryant Punched A Teammate Over $100, And It Wasn’t Shaq|Jeff Pearlman|September 25, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
He must be pretending to be something, striking some kind of clumsy tribal note.
For a President Today, Talkin' Down Is Speaking American|John McWhorter|August 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But Silva, hapless Silva, got his merely for tangling with the Colombian goalkeeper in a clumsy melee of limbs.
Brazil and Colombia Bring the Ugly Game|Tunku Varadarajan|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Season one of OITNB chronicled her clumsy, fumbling attempts to get her legs under her so she could run for safety.
‘Orange Is the New Black’ Season Two Is More Bingeworthy Than the First|Kevin Fallon|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ignore the clumsy comparisons of the Syria War and the Balkans War.
No One Understands Syria, But Everyone Is Choosing Sides|Michael Moynihan|September 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Rather, after weeks of clumsy diplomacy, they consciously led their nations into battle.
The Utterly Pointless First World War|Michael F. Bishop|May 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Long years of service done for him, however, had made him clumsy.
Dangerous Days|Mary Roberts Rinehart
No healing process can help you here to undo your clumsy surgery and want of skill.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846|Various
But they are more than clumsy, they have an offensive horse-play kind of pleasantry that is nothing less than insult.
Studies in Medival Life and Literature|Edward Tompkins McLaughlin
Jan too will have joined them by now, but he was loutish and clumsy.
The Laughing Cavalier|Baroness Orczy
For all our clumsy tying, the blanket held us together or we would have lost each other.
Land of the Burnt Thigh|Edith Eudora Kohl
British Dictionary definitions for clumsy
clumsy
/ (ˈklʌmzɪ) /
adjective-sieror-siest
lacking in skill or physical coordination
awkwardly constructed or contrived
Derived forms of clumsy
clumsily, adverbclumsiness, noun
Word Origin for clumsy
C16 (in obsolete sense: benumbed with cold; hence, awkward): perhaps from C13 dialect clumse to benumb, probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish dialect klumsig numb