Word.ws English Dictionary

make a poor fist of

make a poor fist of verb: to perform a task badly, incompetently, or unsuccessfully.

Verb

make a poor fist of (third-person singular simple present makes a poor fist of, present participle making a poor fist of, simple past and past participle made a poor fist of)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To perform a task badly, incompetently, or unsuccessfully.
    • I had scant wish for tea, but for want of something to do, I poured myself a cup. Whatever Ned's merits as a captain, he was a poor fist at the tea making.Thomas Flanagan, novel, The Tenants of Time Chapter 6

Antonyms of make a poor fist of

Forms of make a poor fist of

third-person singular presentmakes a poor fist of
present participlemaking a poor fist of
past participlemade a poor fist of
pastmade a poor fist of
alternative formbe a poor fist at

Questions about make a poor fist of

What does make a poor fist of mean?
Make a poor fist of means to perform a task badly, incompetently, or unsuccessfully.
What part of speech is make a poor fist of?
Make a poor fist of is a verb.
What is the past tense of make a poor fist of?
The past tense of make a poor fist of is made a poor fist of.

Words near make a poor fist of in the dictionary

  1. make a pig out of oneself
  2. make a pig's ear of
  3. make a pile
  4. make a play
  5. make a point
  6. make a poor fist of
  7. make a production out of
  8. make a public spectacle of oneself
  9. make a rabbit bite a bulldog
  10. make a run for it
  11. make a scene

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: make a poor fist of (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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