all thumbs
3
6.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
torpe
- Fidel's all thumbs with this kind of thing.
I don't know how old the two of you are, but I'm old enough to remember that if you were clumsy, some of us say, hey, you're all thumbs.
- I don't know how old the two of you are, but I'm old enough to remember that if you were clumsy, some of us say, hey, you're all thumbs.
- Boy, Rick Perry was all thumbs last night when he tried to talk about the Pakistani country, otherwise known as Pakistan.
Examples
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I would do it myself, but I am all thumbs.
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I seem to be all thumbs this mornin'.
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I'm all thumbs, you see.
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Look at you, you're all thumbs.
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- I'm all thumbs.
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I'm all thumbs today.
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I'm all thumbs!
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I'm all thumbs.
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I think I, an all-thumbs beginner, can actually make this simple lightbox for the books I am selling on eBay.
Blog text (19) -
I wanted to fix the broken toy, but I was all thumbs and couldn't manage it.
Synonyms
12
2.2
Difficult to hold or carry because of large, awkward shape
3
8.3
Not careful and clumsy when using hands or doing tasks
1
6.3
Clumsy when using the hands, often dropping or breaking things
Clumsy with hands when doing simple tasks
Someone who often drops things with their hands
Antonyms
How Clumsy
- Informal
3
6.5
- Informal
- Informal
2
7.5
73
1.2
33
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'very awkward or clumsy' cannot be directly derived from 'all' + 'thumbs' — a literal reading (made entirely of thumbs) is nonsensical and does not transparently map to clumsiness. Any link relies on an idiomatic, culture-specific metaphor (thumbs implying poor manual dexterity) that a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words is unlikely to infer without prior exposure.
Etymology
All thumbs paints a picture of hands made only of thumbs, so you could not do small, careful things; one popular story says people used this silly image to show someone who was awkward with their hands. That's why it means 'very clumsy' or 'bad at handling things'.