lumpish

Adjective

lumpish (comparative more lumpish, superlative most lumpish)

1. Having an ill-defined or rough form or shape like a lump; lumplike.
   • The Sprite […] lifting vp his lompiſh head, vvth blame / Halfe angrie asked him, for vvhat he came.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 43, page 15
   • It ſeems to me that mere unmixed uglineſs does not ariſe from ſharp angles, or from any ſudden variation, but rather from that want of form, that unſhapen lumpiſh appearance, vvhich, perhaps, no one vvord exactly expreſſes; a quality that never can be miſtaken for beauty, never can adorn it, and...1794, Uvedale Price, chapter IX, in An Essay on the Picturesque, as Compared with the Sublime and the Beautiful; […], volume I, London: […] J. Robson, […], →OCLC, page 161

   Synonyms:

   lumpen

2. (figuratively) Awkward and ungainly in appearance or movement; clumsy, inelegant.
   • [H]e emerged from some struggling trees, and looked out upon a wild moorish country, composed of a succession of swelling lumpish hills, […]1820 March, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in The Monastery. A Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Co., and John...
   • Continental soldiers looked lumpish beside our lean-bred fellows: but against my supple Nejdis the British in their turn looked lumpish.1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book IX: Balancing for a Last Effort. Chapter XCIX.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran &...
3. (figuratively) Dull and slow in acting, thinking, etc.; without energy; cloddish, lethargic, slow-witted, sluggish.
   • So forth he vvent, / VVith heauy looke and lumpiſh pace, that plaine / In him bevvraid great grudge and maltalent; / His ſteed eke ſeemd t'apply his ſteps to his intent.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 61, page 461
   • [A] ſong I prethee, I loue theſe French moouings; oh they are ſo cleane if you treade them true, you ſhal hit them to a haire; ſing, ſing, ſing ſome odde and fantaſticall thing, for I cannot abide these dull and lumpiſh tunes, the Muſition ſtands longer a pricking them then I vvould doe to heare...1601–1602 (date written), attributed to Thomas Dekker and/or Thomas Middleton, Blurt Master-Constable. Or The Spaniards Night-walke. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Henry Rockytt, […], published...

   Synonyms:

   loggish, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, soft, beefheaded, beetle-headed, birdbrained

   Antonyms:

   astute, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, educated, genius, gifted, hivey, ingenious

4. (figuratively) Of sound: dull, heavy.
   • The uplifted Hanger dropped from his Hand, and he fell proſtrate on the Floor vvith a lumpiſh Noiſe, and his Halfpence rattled in his Pocket; the red Liquor vvhich his Veins contained, and the vvhite Liquor vvhich the Pot contained, ran in one Stream dovvn his Face and his Clothes.1742, Henry Fielding, “Containing as Surprizing and Bloody Adventures as can be Found in This, or perhaps any Other Authentic History”, in The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of His...
   • Thou bear'ſt aloof, and look'ſt vvith high diſdain, / Upon the dull mechanic train; / VVhoſe nerveleſs ſtrains flag on in languid tone, / Lifeless and lumpiſh as the bagpipe's drovvzy drone.a. 1765 (date written), Robert Lloyd, “Ode to Genius”, in The Poetical Works of Robert Lloyd, A.M. […], volume II, London: […] T[homas] Evans […], published 1774, →OCLC, page 174
5. (obsolete) Full of lumps; lumpy.
6. (obsolete) Of a thing: having a shape and/or weight which makes it inconvenient to move; cumbersome, unwieldy.
   • [I]t is better to have a ſhaft [of an arrow] a litle to ſhort than over longe, ſomevvhat to light, than over lumpiſhe, a litle to ſmal, than a greate deale to big, […]1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole of Shootinge […], London: […] Edouardi Whytchurch, →OCLC
7. (figuratively, obsolete) Miserable, sad.
   • He [the Devil] marketh well […] mennes complexions within thẽ [them], health, or ſicknes, good humours or badde, by which they be light hearted or lumpiſh, ſtrong hearted, or faynt & fieble of ſpirite, bolde and hardy, or timorous and fearefull of courage.1534 (date written; published 1553), Thomas More, “A Dyalogue of Comforte agaynste Tribulacyon, […]. XVI. Of Hym that were Moued to Kyl Himself by Illusion of the Dyuel, which He Rekened for a...
   • After them vvent Diſpleaſure and Pleaſaunce, / He looking lompiſh and full ſullein ſad, / And hanging dovvne his heauy countenaunce; / She chearfull freſh and full of ioyaunce glad, / As if no ſorrovv ſhe ne felt ne dread; […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18, page 581

   Synonyms:

   atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless, chopfallen, crestfallen

   Antonyms:

   berserk, blissed out, blithe, buoyant, chirpy, blithesome, bonnie, bright, cheerful, cheerly