Maladroitnesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being clumsy or awkward in movement or action
2. The state of displaying ineptitude or a lack of skill in a task or manner
3. A characteristic of being ungraceful or bungling in physical or social situations

Etymology: "Maladroitnesses" is simply the plural of "maladroitness," the noun formed by attaching the suffix "-ness" to the adjective "maladroit." That adjective is itself a compound drawn from French: "mal" means "badly" and "adroit" means "skilful" or "dexterous," so the pieces together describe someone who is clumsy or awkward at what they do. The "-ness" ending is an old Germanic suffix, inherited through Old English "-nes," that turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. The plural form points to a single quality showing up in several separate instances. Each "maladroitness" is one particular display of clumsiness, so the plural counts those displays as individual events. Two or three awkward moments in a row, for instance, could each be described as a maladroitness, and the plural collects them.