Meanings
comparative more ham-fisted · superlative most ham-fisted · alternative hamfisted
- informalLacking skill in physical movement with the hands; clumsy.
"God damn and blast all you hamfisted yokels!" he was saying. "And you, sir, down there. Take that grin off your face and be more careful, or I'll have you clapped under hatches to sail with us today. Easy, there, easy! Christ, rum at seven guineas an anker isn't meant to be dropped like pig iron!"
1938 April, C[ecil] S[cott] Forester [pseudonym; Cecil Louis Troughton Smith], chapter V, in A Ship of the Line, Greenwich edition, London: Michael Joseph, published 1951 (February 1962 printing), →OCLC, pages 40–41Synonyms: cack-handed, ham-handed, heavy-handed, mutton-fisted, undexterous · Antonyms: dexterous, skilful
- broadlyinformalLacking skill in general; incompetent.
What an utter farce. Just like DfT [the Department for Transport]'s ham-fisted, blundering ticket office closure programme.
2023 September 6, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Leaderless and Rudderless”, in Rail, number 991, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32 more examples
[Stephen] Harper has a few weeks' grace, during which he and his ham-fisted finance minister, Jim Flaherty, can ponder the error of their ways.
2008 December 5, “Everyone benefits from prorogue”, in Michael Den Tandt, editor, The Sun Times, volume 156, number 285, Owen Sound, Ont.: Osprey Media Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A4, column 1In 1973, Sonia Orwell broke David Bowie's heart by refusing him permission to adapt her late husband [George Orwell]'s final novel into a rock musical. She had rebuffed every request since the hamfisted 1956 movie version starring Edmond O'Brien, and was never likely to make an exception for a glam-rock dandy, but he was sorely aggrieved.
2019 November 13, Dorian Lynskey, “Bowie's Books and Why Bowie Matters review – a manic turnover of new ideas”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2023Synonyms: bungling, amateurish, backwards, bad, bungling, clumsy, ham-handed, inapt · Antonyms: able, artful, habile, accomplished, adept, adroit, apt, capable
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveLacking skill in physical movement with the hands; clumsy.
adjectiveLacking skill in general; incompetent.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivelacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From ham (“thigh and buttock of an animal slaughtered for meat”) + fisted (adjective), probably referring to someone being clumsy as if they have hams at the end of their arms instead of hands.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian несръ́чен
- несръ́чен (nesrắčen)lacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Chinese Mandarin 笨手笨腳的 /笨手笨脚的
- 笨手笨腳的 /笨手笨脚的 (bènshǒubènjiǎo de)lacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Dutch lomp, onbeholpen
- lomplacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
- onbeholpenlacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
- onhandiglacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Finnish kömpelö, poropeukalo
- kömpelölacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
- poropeukalolacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
French maladroit
- maladroitlacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
German plump, unbeholfen
- plumplacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
- unbeholfenlacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Hungarian ügyetlen
- ügyetlenlacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Norwegian klomsete, klønete
- klomsetelacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
- klønetelacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Portuguese desengonçado
- desengonçadolacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Russian нело́вкий, неуклю́жий
- нело́вкий (nelóvkij)lacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
- неуклю́жий (neukljúžij)lacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Swedish valhänt
- valhäntlacking skill in physical movement with the hands — see also clumsy
Cite this entry
ham-fisted. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ham-fisted
“ham-fisted.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ham-fisted. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ham-fisted,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ham-fisted.
Source: ham-fisted on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.