Meanings
plural clumsinesses
- countableuncountableA lack of coordination or elegance; the condition or quality of being clumsy.
He dropped them not out of spite, but out of clumsiness.
1 more example
"Pardon my clumsiness," he said to the lady. "I am, unfortunately, quite blind. But," he added, with a smile, to turn off the mishap, "even a blind man must have a house."
1914, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados
Synonyms & antonyms
noununskillfulness resulting from a lack of training
nounthe carriage of someone whose movements and posture are ungainly or inelegant
nounthe inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 笨拙
- 笨拙 (bènzhuō)the condition or quality of being clumsy
Finnish kömpelyys
- kömpelyysthe condition or quality of being clumsy
French maladresse, inélégance
- maladressethe condition or quality of being clumsy
- inélégancethe condition or quality of being clumsy
German Ungeschicklichkeit, Plumpheit
- Ungeschicklichkeitthe condition or quality of being clumsy
- Plumpheitthe condition or quality of being clumsy
- Unbeholfenheitthe condition or quality of being clumsy
Greek αδεξιότητα
- αδεξιότητα (adexiótita)the condition or quality of being clumsy
Hungarian ügyetlenség
- ügyetlenségthe condition or quality of being clumsy
Irish liopastacht, amscaíocht
- liopastachtthe condition or quality of being clumsy
- amscaíochtthe condition or quality of being clumsy
- ciotrúntachtthe condition or quality of being clumsy
Italian goffaggine, inettitudine
- goffagginethe condition or quality of being clumsy
- inettitudinethe condition or quality of being clumsy
- sgraziatagginethe condition or quality of being clumsy
Japanese ふき, ドジ
- ふき (fuki)the condition or quality of being clumsy
- ドジ (doji)the condition or quality of being clumsy
- 不手際 (futegiwa)the condition or quality of being clumsy
Portuguese desajeitamento
- desajeitamentothe condition or quality of being clumsy
Russian неуклю́жесть, неповоро́тливость
- неуклю́жесть (neukljúžestʹ)the condition or quality of being clumsy
- неповоро́тливость (nepovorótlivostʹ)the condition or quality of being clumsy
Swedish klumpighet, klantighet
- klumpighetthe condition or quality of being clumsy
- klantighetthe condition or quality of being clumsy
Cite this entry
clumsiness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clumsiness
“clumsiness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clumsiness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clumsiness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clumsiness.
Source: clumsiness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.