Unhandy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not suited for ease of use or manipulation
2. clumsy when handling objects or performing tasks
3. Not easy to manage or operate efficiently due to poor design or form ; moving or acting with a lack of grace or coordination

Etymology: Unhandy is a plain formation: the prefix un- ("not") attached to handy. Handy itself began as an adjective built from the noun hand, with the suffix -y, which Old English used to turn nouns into adjectives meaning "having to do with" or "suited to" something. So the word's core idea is simply "lacking the quality of being convenient to the hand." The prefix has the longer history. Un- descends from a very old Germanic negation that English has used continuously since its earliest records, which is why it attaches so readily to adjectives like this one. Hand, in turn, goes back to a Germanic root that gave it the sense of the grasping limb that has been stable for well over a thousand years. Because both parts are native English, the word needed no borrowing from Latin or French. It is a transparent compound that speakers could build as needed, which helps explain why it has stayed a practical, everyday descriptor rather than a literary one.

Synonyms: awkward, clumsy, unskilled

Antonyms: handy, skilled, dexterous