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Glite Dictionary
landlubberly

landlubberly

9.9
Not experienced on ships and clumsy on deck
  • adjective
  • /ˈlændˌlʌbərli/
  • Archaic
translation icon : inexperto
  • She felt landlubberly on her first voyage, struggling to keep her balance on deck.

Examples

  • The captain spotted his landlubberly stance and offered advice on how to stand at sea.

  • His landlubberly attempts to tie a knot amused the seasoned sailors.

  • Don't be so landlubberly!

  • His landlubberly ways made sailing difficult.

  • His landlubberly attempts to tie a knot amused the seasoned sailors.

  • She felt landlubberly on her first voyage, struggling to keep her balance on deck.

  • The captain spotted his landlubberly stance and offered advice on how to stand at sea.

Synonyms

unseamanlike
vslandlubberly
1 9.9

Not acting like a skilled sailor

is about inexperience from being shore-based rather than failing professional standards
lubberly
vslandlubberly
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Seems clumsy and awkward in movement, often like someone new at sea

focuses specifically on lacking seamanship experience from being shore-based

How Seafaring

seasoned
34 4.0
experienced
138 2.1
competent
114 3.6
landlubberly
  • Archaic
9.9

Surface Forms

landlubberly positive

Morphology

landlubberly = landlubber (transparent) = land + lubber + ly

Formed regularly by adding '-ly' to the noun 'landlubber' to mean 'in the manner of or characteristic of a landlubber'.

Etymology

The word landlubberly comes from land ('land') and lubber (an old word for a clumsy or inexperienced person). Sailors used landlubber to tease people who were awkward on a ship, so landlubberly means 'not good at sailing' or 'lacking skill at sea'.