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clumsy

adj
/ˈklʌmzi/UK

Etymology

Possibly from an alteration of clumsed (“benumbed”) or from clumse (“a stupid fellow; lout”) + -y. More at clumse.

  1. derived from *klumsa✻
  2. inherited from clumsen
  3. suffixed as clumsy — “clumse + y”

Definitions

  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
    • The ravviſh danke of clumzie vvinter ramps / The fluent ſummers vaine: and drizling ſleete / Chilleth the vvan bleak cheek of the numd earth, / VVhilſt ſnarling guſts nibble the iuyceles leaues, / From the nak't ſhuddring branch; […]

  3. Awkward or inefficient in use or construction, difficult to handle or manage especially…

    Awkward or inefficient in use or construction, difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape.

  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. A clumsy person.

      • On the stairs he met Ellen, the housemaid, and as he passed her he knocked the hot-water jug out of her hand. “Well, you are a clumsy,” said Ellen, as she bent down to mop up the water.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at clumsy. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01clumsy02graceful03movement04character05breed06bear07uncouth

A definitional loop anchored at clumsy. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at clumsy

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA