ham-fisted

Adjective

ham-fisted (comparative more ham-fisted, superlative most ham-fisted)

1. (informal) Lacking skill in physical movement with the hands; clumsy.
   • "God damn and blast all you hamfisted yokels!" he was saying. "And you, sir, down there. Take that grin off your face and be more careful, or I'll have you clapped under hatches to sail with us today. Easy, there, easy! Christ, rum at seven guineas an anker isn't meant to be dropped like pig iron!"1938 April, C[ecil] S[cott] Forester [pseudonym; Cecil Louis Troughton Smith], chapter V, in A Ship of the Line, Greenwich edition, London: Michael Joseph, published 1951 (February 1962 printing)...

   Synonyms:

   cack-handed, ham-handed, heavy-handed, mutton-fisted, undexterous

   Antonyms:

   dexterous, skilful

2. (broadly, informal) Lacking skill in general; incompetent.
   • [Stephen] Harper has a few weeks' grace, during which he and his ham-fisted finance minister, Jim Flaherty, can ponder the error of their ways.2008 December 5, “Everyone benefits from prorogue”, in Michael Den Tandt, editor, The Sun Times, volume 156, number 285, Owen Sound, Ont.: Osprey Media Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A4, column 1
   • In 1973, Sonia Orwell broke David Bowie's heart by refusing him permission to adapt her late husband [George Orwell]'s final novel into a rock musical. She had rebuffed every request since the hamfisted 1956 movie version starring Edmond O'Brien, and was never likely to make an exception for a...2019 November 13, Dorian Lynskey, “Bowie's Books and Why Bowie Matters review – a manic turnover of new ideas”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC...

   Synonyms:

   bungling, amateurish, backwards, bad, clumsy, ham-handed, inapt, incapable, incompetent, ineffective

   Antonyms:

   able, artful, habile, accomplished, adept, adroit, apt, capable, competent, consummate