clumsy
adjective
Simple meaning
Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kluhmzeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklʌmzi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous.
Awkward or inefficient in use or construction, difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape.
Not elegant or well-planned, lacking tact or subtlety.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous.
Used this way, clumsy is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- gawky , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A person with poor motor coordination.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: awkward or lacking coordination or not graceful
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Collections with this word
Themed sets you can browse for free.
Use it yourself
Knowing “clumsy” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.