as in clumsy
lacking or showing a lack of nimbleness in using one's hands
she's far too handless to be good at needlework
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handless
Twenty-five years after authorities discovered a headless and handless man in a Michigan cornfield, arrests have been made in connection to the grisly murder.
—
Tristan Balagtas, Peoplemag, 26 Jan. 2023
Two brothers were arrested this week on murder charges in connection to a 1997 Michigan cold case in which a man's headless and handless body was found in a cornfield, authorities said.
—Erin Pflaumer, CBS News, 26 Jan. 2023
When asked what doctors and nurses on the front lines at Cincinnati Children's Hospital needed to keep the hospital cleaner, the answer was quick: handless door hooks.
—James Weber, Cincinnati.com, 7 Apr. 2020
Join us on deck for games such as handless doughnut eating, deadeye bowling and cauldron tossing.
—Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2017
Tristan Balagtas, Peoplemag, 26 Jan. 2023
Two brothers were arrested this week on murder charges in connection to a 1997 Michigan cold case in which a man's headless and handless body was found in a cornfield, authorities said.
—Erin Pflaumer, CBS News, 26 Jan. 2023
When asked what doctors and nurses on the front lines at Cincinnati Children's Hospital needed to keep the hospital cleaner, the answer was quick: handless door hooks.
—James Weber, Cincinnati.com, 7 Apr. 2020
Join us on deck for games such as handless doughnut eating, deadeye bowling and cauldron tossing.
—Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handless
Adjective
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For starters, even at 4 mm by 4 mm, the Utah array would be too big and clumsy a hunk of hardware for Science to implant in the eye or Synchron to thread through a vein.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
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What resulted is one of the most comic, counterproductive, and clumsy episodes in the long history of British efforts to deal with Ireland.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Insert one very awkward stalemate between the pair here.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
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Lisa Frankenstein centers on awkward and antisocial high schooler Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) after the violent demise of her mother.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handless. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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