clumsiness

[ kluhm-zee-nis ]

noun

1. awkwardness or lack of skill or grace in movement or action:

   In spite of their large size and reputed clumsiness, bears are fleet-footed.

2. the fact or quality of being awkwardly done or made, or of being poorly contrived, difficult to use, etc.:

   The story wasn't bad, but had moments of clumsiness.

   Despite the winning concept of a phone combined with a gaming console, this version was doomed by the clumsiness of its design.

Word History and Origins

Origin of clumsiness¹

First recorded in 1650–60; clumsy ( def ) + -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

The game, unsurprisingly, was a cavalcade of clumsiness.

From Los Angeles Times

We saw both sides of Dessers' ability at Hampden, the tidy footwork and calm finish for his first goal, then the clumsiness when getting into space to the left of the Hearts goal only to get the ball caught up in his feet much later on.

From BBC

"I regret my clumsiness and lack of care in choosing my words and can see the upset and offence they caused," he said.

From BBC

A child's personality and behavior may change, and clumsiness or stumbling develops between the ages of five and ten.

From Science Daily

Her spectacular clumsiness with this question at a very bad time in the campaign news cycle is likely to hurt her but not because of the slavery question which, as we've seen, isn't any kind of deal breaker among Republicans.

From Salon