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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective clumsy contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of clumsy are awkward, gauche, inept, and maladroit. While all these words mean "not marked by ease (as of performance, movement, or social conduct)," clumsy implies stiffness and heaviness and so may connote inflexibility, unwieldiness, or lack of ordinary skill.

a clumsy mechanic

When could awkward be used to replace clumsy?

The words awkward and clumsy can be used in similar contexts, but awkward is widely applicable and may suggest unhandiness, inconvenience, lack of muscular control, embarrassment, or lack of tact.

periods of awkward silence

When might gauche be a better fit than clumsy?

Although the words gauche and clumsy have much in common, gauche implies the effects of shyness, inexperience, or ill breeding.

felt gauche and unsophisticated at formal parties

In what contexts can inept take the place of clumsy?

While the synonyms inept and clumsy are close in meaning, inept often implies complete failure or inadequacy.

a hopelessly inept defense attorney

When would maladroit be a good substitute for clumsy?

In some situations, the words maladroit and clumsy are roughly equivalent. However, maladroit suggests a tendency to create awkward situations.

a maladroit politician

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of clumsy The top secret agent of CONTROL is a role model for clumsy wannabe Steve Carell, though by the end, Agent 23 is the one throwing an explosive situation into total KAOS. Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025 His clumsy leather shoes didn’t fit him. Literary Hub, 3 Oct. 2025 Maggie is a snoop—and a clumsy one. Justin Chang, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025 But the character’s state of servitude is largely hidden in clumsy blocking. Frank Rizzo, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for clumsy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clumsy
Adjective
  • In all of the courses, the pedagogy is an awkward pastiche of traditions, combining Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Slavic paganism, Siberian shamanism, and Asian spiritual practices, spiked with elements of Jungian and American pop psychology.
    Julia Ioffe, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Pignato shared a scene from a recent consult with a rival company that wanted advice on how to bring AI into its engineering workflow, and an awkward generational mismatch.
    Jason Ma, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This can lead to problems such as weakness, muscle tension, and uncoordinated voiding that can cause issues like incontinence, urgency, and frequent urinary tract infections.
    Maggie O'Neill, Verywell Health, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Despite reports saying that Kidman and Urban had been separated for a few weeks, the announcement and the ensuing headlines have an uncoordinated chaos.
    Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Pay close attention to signs that a new sweater is uncomfortable or causing your dog pain.
    BestReviews, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Taking their uncomfortable seats were Josh Greenstein, president of marketing and production; Sanford Panitch, president of production; and Steven O’Dell, president of international marketing.
    Jay Glennie, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Like the cumbersome, omnipresent sheriff's duty belt, complete with handgun, handcuffs and the works.
    Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The results are incredibly detailed, although the accessory is cumbersome.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • It’s still considered rude, and people on both sides tend to feel bad about it, albeit in different ways.
    Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Is it meant to suggest something about focaccia’s typically dimpled surface, in which case … kinda rude?
    Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Critics started using the ungainly term Apatowian to describe his imitators.
    Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
  • An absolute charmer, the film is an affecting look at the human-avian bond, with all its mysteries, warmth and ungainly practicalities.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • This uneasy detente between Matty and Olympia drives much of the rest of this episode’s plot.
    Noel Murray, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Wichita police are asking for the public’s help identifying a woman reportedly taken by force early Sunday morning — an incident that has left neighbors uneasy.
    Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Democrats, however, blasted Earle-Sears’s constant interruptions during the debate as unwieldy.
    Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 11 Oct. 2025
  • After his umpteenth comeback, director Robert Altman almost immediately ruined his career again with this tepid, unwieldy multicharacter satire of the fashion world.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Clumsy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clumsy. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on clumsy

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