cack-handed

[ kak-han-did ]

adjective

, Chiefly British Informal.

1. clumsy; lacking skill with the hands.
2. left-handed.

cack-handed

/ ˌkækˈhændɪd /

adjective

1. left-handed
2. clumsy

Word History and Origins

Origin of cack-handed¹

First recorded in 1850–55; origin uncertain; perhaps from Old Norse keikr “bent backwards”; akin to Danish keite “left-handed”; perhaps from English dialect cack, keck “awkward” (of unknown origin). An obsolete noun sense “excrement” is found in Old English (in cac-hūs “latrine” ); the obsolete verb sense ( mid-15th century ) appears in Middle English cakken “to void excrement,” from Latin cacāre; akin to Greek kakkân “to void excrement,” Middle Irish cacc “dung,” and perhaps to Greek kakós “bad”

Word History and Origins

Origin of cack-handed¹

from dialect cack excrement, from the fact that clumsy people usually make a mess; via Middle Low German or Middle Dutch from Latin cacāre to defecate

Example Sentences

But to condemn an entire sport for the tin-eared and cack-handed Twitter exchanges of two men who ought to have known better wouldn't be fair.

From BBC

They added that a meeting between the Attorney General Suella Braverman and devolved ministers on Saturday was "last-minute, fractious, and cack-handed".

From BBC

As Krystal Ball has rightly mocked, even now the media are whipping up fears that the "Orange Mussolini" may stage some kind of cack-handed coup to block the handover to Biden.

From Salon

Elsewhere in the driver market, Williams have finally put an end to speculation about their line-up - after their rather cack-handed attempts to dampen it down last weekend only heightened it - by reconfirming that George Russell and Nicholas Latifi are under contract and will remain.

From BBC

A memoir by the comedian, writer and producer and actor is called, “Cack-Handed” and comes out June 8, Amistad announced Monday.

From Seattle Times