adjective
- Lacking grace in movement or posture.
- usage: "a gawky lad with long ungainly legs"; "clumsy fingers"; "what an ungainly creature a giraffe is"; "heaved his unwieldy figure out of his chair"
- Not elegant or graceful in expression.
- usage: "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"
- synonyms: awkward, cumbersome, inapt, inept, ill-chosen
- Difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape.
- usage: "an awkward bundle to carry"; "a load of bunglesome paraphernalia"; "clumsy wooden shoes"; "the cello, a rather ungainly instrument for a girl"
- synonyms: awkward, bunglesome, ungainly
- Showing lack of skill or aptitude.
- usage: "a bungling workman"; "did a clumsy job"; "his fumbling attempt to put up a shelf"
- synonyms: bungling, fumbling, incompetent
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). clumsy. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/clumsy/definitions/1170883 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "clumsy" http://smartdefine.org/clumsy/definitions/1170883 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, clumsy, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/clumsy/definitions/1170883>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "clumsy" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/clumsy/definitions/1170883> |