landlubberly

1 9.9

Not experienced on ships and clumsy on deck

adjective
/ˈlændˌlʌbərli/

Archaic

: 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

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

unseamanlike

vslandlubberly

1 9.9

Not acting like a skilled sailor

is about inexperience from being shore-based rather than failing professional standards

How Seafaring

seasoned

62 4.0

experienced

255 2.1

competent

134 3.6

landlubberly

Archaic

1 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'.