clumsy
part of speech
adjective (clumsy, clumsier, clumsiest)
meaning for a pupil
1) A clumsy person moves in an awkward, careless way, and often drops, bumps or breaks things. tree →
2) A clumsy thing is big, heavy and hard to use or move. tree →
3) Clumsy words or actions are not done well or sensitively: «a clumsy apology». tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life, everyone can be clumsy sometimes, especially when tired or growing fast. In stories, clumsy characters (a clumsy giant, a clumsy puppy) are often funny. In writing lessons, a «clumsy sentence» is awkward and needs rewriting. Phrases: «clumsy fingers», «a clumsy mistake», «a clumsy attempt».
examples
- I'm so clumsy — I knocked over my drink again. tree →
- The clumsy puppy tripped over its own paws. tree →
- My fingers felt clumsy in the thick gloves. tree →
- The giant was big and clumsy. tree →
- That's a clumsy sentence; try to make it shorter. tree →
- He made a clumsy attempt to say sorry. tree →
- The old wardrobe was too clumsy to carry upstairs. tree →
- Be careful, don't be clumsy with the glass bowl. tree →
- “‘I wonder if that farmer thought to fool me in this clumsy manner. tree →
note
Spelling: clumsy (no «b»: not «clumbsy»). Comparatives: clumsier, clumsiest. Adverb: clumsily; noun: clumsiness. Opposite: graceful, nimble. Being clumsy is not being bad — be kind if someone drops something.
In the corpora
- People hope robots and AI will help with boring chores, but real home robots are still clumsy and expensive.
- Toad keeps his temper, though he finds their jokes «poor and clumsy».
- Reading your work aloud helps you hear missing words, clumsy sentences and tense slips.
- English borrowed gauche to mean clumsy and adroit (from à droit) to mean skilful.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «clumsy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.