The Collaborative International Dictionary
Clumsy \Clum"sy\, a. [Compar. Clumsier; superl. Clumsiest.] [OE. clumsed benumbed, fr. clumsen to be benumbed; cf. Icel. klumsa lockjaw, dial. Sw. klummsen benumbed with cold. Cf. 1st Clam, and 1st Clamp.]
Stiff or benumbed, as with cold. [Obs.]
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Without skill or grace; wanting dexterity, nimbleness, or readiness; stiff; awkward, as if benumbed; unwieldy; unhandy; hence; ill-made, misshapen, or inappropriate; as, a clumsy person; a clumsy workman; clumsy fingers; a clumsy gesture; a clumsy excuse.
But thou in clumsy verse, unlicked, unpointed, Hast shamefully defied the Lord's anointed.
--Dryden.Syn: See Awkward.
Wiktionary
a. (en-superlative of: clumsy)
WordNet
See clumsy
adj. lacking grace in movement or posture; "a gawky lad with long ungainly legs"; "clumsy fingers"; "what an ungainly creature a giraffe is"; "heaved his unwieldy figure out of his chair" [syn: gawky, clunky, ungainly, unwieldy]
not elegant or graceful in expression; "an awkward prose style"; "a clumsy apology"; "his cumbersome writing style"; "if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?" [syn: awkward, cumbersome, inapt, inept, ill-chosen]
difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape; "an awkward bundle to carry"; "a load of bunglesome paraphernalia"; "clumsy wooden shoes"; "the cello, a rather ungainly instrument for a girl" [syn: awkward, bunglesome, ungainly]
showing lack of skill or aptitude; "a bungling workman"; "did a clumsy job"; "his fumbling attempt to put up a shelf" [syn: bungling, fumbling, incompetent]
Usage examples of "clumsiest".
He seemed to taste again the half-forgotten days of his own boyhood, when he, the clumsiest of the cadets, had been accepted as one of them because of his sworn friendship with Coryn, who, like Domenic, had been the best liked, the most energetic and outrageous of them all.
He loved too the gentleness with which she treated everyone, from her father, who was crippled and often peevish, to the youngest and clumsiest of the household servants.
We planted another with my blushing and mumbling — persuaded Sara, or rather let her discover for herself, that I was the clumsiest liar in the world.
The latter youth (who used to be called Heigh-ho Dobbin, Gee-ho Dobbin, and by many other names indicative of puerile contempt) was the quietest, the clumsiest, and, as it seemed, the dullest of all Dr.
Roland was making his revelations with a lawyer's innate skill, though in truth the clumsiest of speakers could have held the room spellbound.