maladroit
/ˌmaləˈdrɔɪt
/adjective
Inefficient or inept; clumsy: both men are unhappy about the maladroit way the matter has been handled...
- This has been an extremely clumsy maladroit approach on the part of the US economic team.
- This he contrasts to the maladroit policies pursued by the natives after they acquired independence - which included high tariffs, industrial planning, labor protection, and the like.
- I will only make one observation - the Chinese government has been extraordinarily maladroit over the past six months.
Synonyms
bungling, awkward, inept, clumsy, bumbling, incompetent, unskilful, heavy-handed, ungainly, inelegant, inexpert, graceless, ungraceful, gauche, unhandy, uncoordinated, gawky, cloddish, clodhopping, all fingers and thumbs, flat-footed, lumbering;
like a bull in a china shop, tactless, insensitive, thoughtless, inconsiderate, undiplomatic, impolitic, injudicious
informal butterfingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, cack-handed
archaic lubberly
Derivatives
maladroitly
/ adverb ...- I groaned internally as I recalled the plane ride where I had maladroitly gotten sick all over Ross.
- Legalist institutions that manage that pursuit maladroitly are ultimately swept away.
- Small-scale land restitution to those who could prove they owned it before 1947 has been maladroitly handled.
maladroitness
/ noun ...- Unfortunately it appears that Mr Rahman's maladroitness precedes him.
- Not only is the moment not particularly funny, its maladroitness ruins any momentum the film had been building.
- Mishaps and maladroitness end in pairing for all, as their love ‘started in eternity and will last till doomsday’.
Origin
Late 17th century: French.