Meanings
alternative butter fingers
- idiomaticinformalSomeone who tends to drop things; (more generally) someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated; a klutz.
I am such a butterfingers. That’s the third drink I’ve spilled today.
2 more examples
[A]t every bad attempt at a catch, and every failure to stop the ball, he launched his personal displeasure at the head of the devoted individual in such denunciations as—"Ah, ah!—stupid"—"Now butter-fingers"—"Muff"—"Humbug"—and so forth—ejaculations which seemed to establish him in the opinion of all around, as a most excellent and undeniable judge of the whole art and mystery of the noble game of cricket.
1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “How Mr. Winkle, instead of Shooting at the Pigeon and Killing the Crow, Shot at the Crow and Wounded the Pigeon; […]”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 69“[…] Please don't handle them [birds’ eggs], Me! They are very fragile, and I would’nt^([sic – meaning wouldn’t]) lose them for anything.” / “I must hold them—just this once,” persists Me. “Don’t think I shall be such a butter[-]fingers as to break them. I’ve handled heaps of eggs before these!”
1883, Frances I[sabelle] M. Kershaw, “Master Me”, in Baby: A Study of Baby Life, London: Burns and Oates, […], →OCLC, page 95Synonyms: butterfinger
- idiomaticinformalOne's fingers which tend to drop things, or are clumsy or uncoordinated.
“I guess everyone’s got butterfingers around here,” Cole said with a sly smile. “Lucky for us, I’ve got fast reflexes.”
2014, Scott Ciencin, chapter 1, in Luck Be a Lady […] (Charmed), New York, N.Y.: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, →ISBN, page 41 more example
“That boy’s got butterfingers,” Connor went on. “That’s twice he’s dropped a tool. He’s got no place on a construction site.”
2017, Cora Seton, chapter 9, in Issued to the Bride: One Marine, San Bernardino, Calif.: One Acre Press, →ISBN - idiomaticinformalA tendency to drop things, or to be clumsy or uncoordinated.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone who tends to drop things; (more generally) someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated; a klutz.
Origin
From butter + fingers (suggesting that someone is clumsy and drops things as if their hands are coated in slippery butter), from butterfingered.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech nemehlo, gramloň
- nemehlosomeone who tends to drop things
- gramloňsomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- motovidlosomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- nemehlosomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- nešikasomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- polenosomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
Finnish mämmikoura, nakkisormi
- mämmikourasomeone who tends to drop things
- nakkisormisomeone who tends to drop things
- rähmäkäpäläsomeone who tends to drop things
- pääsiäiskäsisomeone who tends to drop things
French maladroit (e), avoir deux mains gauches
- maladroit (e)someone who tends to drop things
- avoir deux mains gauchessomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- maladroitsomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
German Tollpatsch, Tölpel
- Tollpatschsomeone who tends to drop things
- Tölpelsomeone who tends to drop things
- Mensch mit zwei linken Händensomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- unbeholfener Menschsomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- ungeschickte Personsomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
Greek μανταλάκιας, ζημιάρης
- μανταλάκιας (mantalákias)someone who tends to drop things
- ζημιάρης (zimiáris)someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
Hungarian kétbalkezes, lyukaskezű
- kétbalkezessomeone who tends to drop things
- lyukaskezűsomeone who tends to drop things
Italian mano di pastafrolla
- mano di pastafrollasomeone who tends to drop things
Māori ninipa, ninipa
- ninipasomeone who tends to drop things
- ninipasomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
Portuguese mão furada, mãos de manteiga
- mão furadasomeone who tends to drop things
- mãos de manteigasomeone who tends to drop things
- mãos de manteigasomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- mãos de manteigaone’s fingers which tend to drop things, or are clumsy or uncoordinated
Russian растяпа
- растяпа (rastjapa)someone who tends to drop things
Spanish manazas, manos muertas
- manazassomeone who tends to drop things
- manos muertassomeone who tends to drop things
- torpesomeone who tends to drop things
- manazassomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
- manos de mantecasomeone who is clumsy or uncoordinated
Cite this entry
butterfingers. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butterfingers
“butterfingers.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butterfingers. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “butterfingers,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butterfingers.
Source: butterfingers on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.