1
as in awkward
lacking or showing a lack of nimbleness in using one's hands
diamond cutting is no job for a clumsy person
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2
as in uncoordinated
having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner
a clumsy bow clumsy on the dance floor
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3
as in uncomfortable
lacking social grace and assurance
felt clumsy in the unfamiliar uniform
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4
as in inexperienced
showing or marked by a lack of skill and tact (as in dealing with a situation)
a clumsy joke
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5
as in cumbersome
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
a clumsy contraption, but it got the job done
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6
as in rude
hastily or roughly constructed
a clumsy mock-up of the real thing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clumsy
When questions surfaced about Elordi’s casting as Heathcliff and the novel’s racial implications, Fennell’s response, rooted in her childhood perception, felt clumsy.
—
Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Feb. 2026
For much of the nineteenth century, dolls were made at home from corn husks, clothing scraps, and the like, or produced from expensive, fragile bisque porcelain and kept high up on shelves to be admired by grownup collectors, not pawed by clumsy kids.
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Soon, Hegseth jumped on the Harvard-bashing train, a kind of me-too move similar to the secretary’s clumsy attempts to involve himself in the administration’s immigration mayhem in Minnesota.
—Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2026
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.
—Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clumsy
Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Feb. 2026
For much of the nineteenth century, dolls were made at home from corn husks, clothing scraps, and the like, or produced from expensive, fragile bisque porcelain and kept high up on shelves to be admired by grownup collectors, not pawed by clumsy kids.
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Soon, Hegseth jumped on the Harvard-bashing train, a kind of me-too move similar to the secretary’s clumsy attempts to involve himself in the administration’s immigration mayhem in Minnesota.
—Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2026
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.
—Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clumsy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clumsy
Adjective
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Reaching backward or twisting around other people to grab a bag is awkward and strains muscles.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Feb. 2026
-
These things are often awkward at the best of times and with the best of families, but this oddball mess of a household might just be the actual worst.—
David Opie,
IndieWire,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Every one of these new bits of hardware introduced a new set of uncoordinated chatter of alarms that simply produced noise.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Woody was a slightly uncoordinated and not-so-strong cowboy cop who relied more on his sense of humor than his brawn.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
15 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, the situation at the Ankara State Theater has uncomfortable parallels with the recent shuttering of the Kennedy Center in Washington in response to the artists boycotting it in protest at its rebranding.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The role of any newspaper, especially one with the long and proud legacy of The Sun, is not to smooth over uncomfortable realities in the name of civility.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The process is cumbersome, deliberate, sluggish … and long overdue.—
Bill Swank,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
-
One approach is to reform outdated and cumbersome permitting processes so clean energy projects, such as for solar and wind power — along with more transmission lines — can be added to our grid more quickly.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Margot Robbie once had the world's rudest coworker.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Feb. 2026
-
The other systems are even ruder.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Melbourne, Australia — An ungainly barrel of a shark cruising languidly over a barren seabed far too deep for the sun's rays to illuminate was an unexpected sight.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 Feb. 2026
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The movie begins in 1989, when Martin was just out of her teens and fighting in Toughwoman contests, and spans 22 years, providing all sorts of opportunities for ungainly period hairstyles, from a ragged pageboy to a curly mullet to a frizzy shag.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Though the private military firm has been credited with helping security forces get into neighborhoods and recently blew up the home of one of the country’s most notorious warlords, the presence of mercenaries operating in Haiti continues to make some lawmakers uneasy.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
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As the pair struggles to survive the brutal Canadian backcountry, an uneasy bond forms.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Shot in mid-2024, the film has the air of having been chopped and changed several times over toward its final unwieldy form, premiering in competition at this year’s Berlinale.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Feb. 2026
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Folding in half is ineffective and may result in overhandling the dough by the time the layers are built; folding into fourths makes the dough unwieldy.—
Shilpa Uskokovic,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clumsy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clumsy. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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