Awkhanded

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Using the left hand by preference rather than the right ; lacking skill or grace in handling things with the hands
2. Favouring the left hand over the right in everyday tasks ; fumbling and ungainly when manipulating objects with the hands
3. Describing someone who is left-handed ; describing a person who is clumsy and unskilled when working with their hands

Etymology: "Awkhanded" is a compound of "awk" and "handed," and its history is mostly a matter of two Middle English roots meeting. "Awk" is an old word meaning "backhanded," "wrong," or "perverse," and it comes from Old Norse "öfugr," "turned backward," which is also the source of the English adjective "awkward." Over time, the Old Norse-derived "awk" and the native English "awkward" developed side by side, with "awkward" becoming the dominant form, so "awkhanded" survives mainly as a compound that keeps the older spelling. "Handed" here is the common English suffix formed from "hand," used in compounds such as "left-handed" and "even-handed" to describe a person's manner or skill with the hands. Combining the two gives a word meaning someone whose hands work in the wrong way, that is, clumsy.

Synonyms: clumsy, awkward, maladroit

Antonyms: dexterous, adroit, deft