adj. 1
Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous.
He's very clumsy. I wouldn't trust him with carrying the dishes.
adj. 2
Not elegant or well-planned, lacking tact or subtlety.
It is a clumsy solution, but it might work for now.
adj. 3
Awkward or inefficient in use or construction, difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape.
n. 1
A clumsy person.

Related words

Word family: clumsily clumsiness

Forms

Plural: clumsies → klutzes, lumps, galoots…

Choose the right word

Clumsy, Clumse or Awkward?

Clumsy, on the other hand (from clumse, also through the Norwegian), signifies benumbed, stiffened with cold; this is the original meaning of clumsy fingers, clumsy limbs. Thus, awkward primarily refers to action, clumsy to condition.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

awkward At first the trainees were awkward in his company.
cumbersome Why did we get a washbasin? It's so cumbersome!
ungainly Very tall people can often be ungainly.
inelegant The slang is a metonymic but inelegant phrase.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
clumsy		rising
awkward		rising
cumbersome		steady
ungainly		rising
inelegant		rising
inartful		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: lump¹
5 letters: heavy², inept², klutz¹, gawky², inapt
6 letters: wooden², clunky², galoot
7 letters: awkward², bearish², uncouth², boorish²
8 letters: unwieldy³, bumbling³, ungainly³, bungling³, clownish, inexpert, inartful
9 letters: unskilled², lumbering³, ponderous³, inelegant, graceless², unskilful
10 letters: cumbersome³, unskillful
11 letters: incompetent⁴
12 letters: unmanageable⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (heavy² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: manchot
Italiano: monco
Español: manco
Deutsch: unbeholfen