1Awkward in movement or in handling things.

1. 1.1 Done awkwardly or without skill.
   a very clumsy attempt to park

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I made this clumsy, half-hearted suicide attempt about a year ago.
   • This clumsy pastiche may please its creator, but the difficulty with any ‘me-film’ is that you're only guaranteed an audience of one.
   • There's only so much space for awkward dialogue and clumsy exposition when you have to cram a movie full of fight scenes.
   • It is an attempt, and a clumsy attempt, to codify the present criminal law.
   • These categories are clumsy and incomplete, but I'm hoping you can deduce what I mean for the sake of brevity here.
   • The characters appear out of nowhere and act as little more than clumsy devices to move the plot along and reveal the truth behind mysteries set up elsewhere.
   • He also uses the clumsy narrative device of the flashback in attempt to generate a sense of depth in the relationship.
   • For instance, when we learn to drive a car, our initial attempts are clumsy and full of errors.
   • This was a clumsy amateurish attempt by two students.
   • It is difficult to believe that such clumsy moments derive from even a very early work by the great composer.
   • With this uncharacteristically clumsy device the author seems to be trying to relate his novel to public events, and trying too hard.
   • It comes off as a clumsy storytelling device and suggests a more general weakness with the criminology aspects of the film.
   • The hints too had been so heavy and so clumsy that journalists well versed in the field of arms control were beginning to guess who it could be.
   • The shooting appears to be a clumsy attempt to provoke violence that would justify their continued presence in the country.
   • This clumsy attempt at democracy has soured the population.
   • His downfall came only when he made a clumsy and inept attempt to forge her will, to claim her legacy for himself.
   • ‘Being a hippy’ was just a clumsy attempt to give expression to those moments of spirituality he had experienced since childhood.
   • The clumsy frame-up attempt was as stupid as it was shortsighted.
   • The extraordinarily clumsy and transparent attempt to bury the issue failed, however, resulting in a further inquiry and the present trials.
   • The performances are flat and wooden; the writing is clumsy and unlikely to keep any child interested for more than a few minutes.
   • A smaller boy on the other side of the path was laughing as some of my clumsy attempts to be ‘lady like’.
   • But these clumsy attempts to prevent its publication only promoted the swift growth of interest in the book.

   Synonyms

   awkward, uncoordinated, ungainly, graceless, ungraceful, inelegant, gawky, gauche, gangling, cloddish, blundering, lumbering
2. 1.2 Difficult to handle or use; unwieldy.
   clumsy devices

   the legal procedure is far too clumsy

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Iron ploughs engineered to reduce soil resistance replaced clumsy wooden ones, increasing ploughing productivity.
   • The outer wooden framework, which is clumsy and heavy and painted grey, protects and cages the garland.
   • It looked and felt so clumsy, so unwieldy, so…… artificial.
   • The weapon and its ammunition will be too heavy and clumsy for general issue and its cost per weapon and ammunition will be huge.
   • They must have been clumsy and difficult to manoeuvre as well.
   • Here's an alternative to clumsy, heavy snow chains.
   • Also, larger oars were heavy and clumsy to maneuver and required multiple oarsmen.
   • These clumsy wood snowshoes were heavy and made walking almost impossible.
   • Place my first mobile phone next to my present one, and you see light years of difference: the old one is bulky and clumsy.
   • No one could maintain that furious, driving rhythm - not with something as massive and clumsy as a two-handed sword!
   • With their clumsy wooden carts, they cleared the refuse from the streets and cleaned the open drains bordering its streets.
   • The reason seems to be that they are clumsy and difficult to manoeuvre.
   • They were difficult to conceal, clumsy, expensive to manufacture, and required bulky ammunition which created stowage and logistics problems.
   • If the skis are too long, they will be clumsy and awkward.

   Synonyms

   unwieldy, unmanageable, cumbersome, bulky, hulking, heavy, solid, awkward, unmanoeuvrable
3. 1.3 Lacking social skills; tactless.
   his choice of words was clumsy

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I am pretty clumsy and awkward but I try real hard never to trespass in a way that would be offensive to a place.
   • In a complex of lonely and socially clumsy bachelors, disheartened by too many rejections, she was news.
   • His characters are often awkward and clumsy, expressing people's inability to communicate.
   • The words fell out of his mouth in a clumsy, awkward fashion that instantly made him regret talking at all.
   • Alex, with his clumsy manners, his awkward yet almost sweet behavior… and his captivating personality.
   • The film documents the clumsy and difficult courtship.
   • I mean, it was clumsy the way they handled it.
   • In the end, the organization looks clumsy and amateurish.
   • There were awkward speeches saying kind and clumsy things, gauche jokes and real fondness.
   • His retaliations are clumsy and awkward in comparison.
   • Eventually, I made our excuses and took her home, worried that I had ruined yet another woman's life with my clumsy social skills.
   • But, at the heart of this argument, I have reached the conclusion that I'm a slightly clumsy, rather ineffectual speaker.
   • Simple self promotion is jarring, far too revealing and far too blunt, gauche, clumsy, and vulgar.
   • I was far too clumsy in social situations to attempt a visit, not even to apologize for something that had been plaguing me with guilt all day.

   Synonyms

   gauche, awkward, graceless, unpolished, unsubtle, crude, uncouth, boorish, crass

   tactless, insensitive, thoughtless, inconsiderate, undiplomatic, indelicate, impolitic, injudicious, ill-judged