Meaning
A clumsy, awkward person prone to tripping, dropping things, or fumbling; by extension, anyone cursed with graceless hands or feet. The word is informal and a little affectionate rather than harsh, and its adjective 'klutzy' is now at least as common as the noun for describing mishaps. Informal and teasing rather than insulting; 'klutzy' is the everyday adjective form. Regional use: General English (borrowed from Yiddish).
Origin
From Yiddish klots, which meant literally a 'wooden beam' or 'block' and figuratively a blockhead or clumsy oaf; it descends from Middle High German kloz, a 'lumpy mass', cognate with German Klotz 'wooden block' and with native English 'clot' for a lump. Yiddish-speaking immigrants carried the word into American English, where it became slang for a hopelessly graceless person. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1959, while the Online Etymology Dictionary's citation files place the noun in 1967 and record the derived adjective 'klutzy' two years earlier, in 1965 - a small disagreement over exactly when immigrant slang first reached print.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- clutz
- klutziness
- klutzy
Usage Examples
- I would teach you the line dance, but I am a hopeless klutz and I would flatten the whole table.
- A self-described klutz, she surprised everyone at the climbing gym by reaching the top of the wall on her first visit.
- He blames the shattered vase on the cat, but everyone knows he is the klutz in that house.