butterfingered

/ˈbʌtəˌfɪŋɡəd/ adj

Prone to dropping things; clumsy.

Word Origin Butter comes from Greek boutyron, literally 'cow-cheese' — a compound of bous 'cow' and tyros 'cheese.' Butterfingered means having fingers as slippery as if coated in butter, prone to dropping things. The same root gives us butterfingers, buttermilk, and butterfly (perhaps from the belief that butterflies stole butter). Finger is from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, related to five.

adj Prone to dropping things; clumsy.

The butterfingered waiter dropped three plates during the dinner service.

(形容词) 笨手笨脚;手脚笨拙 【笨手笨脚的】

那位笨手笨脚的服务员在晚餐服务期间打翻了三个盘子。

(adjetivo) manazas; patoso; torpe; manos de manteca; torpe de manos [Propenso a dejar caer cosas; torpe.]

El mesero torpe dejó caer tres platos durante el servicio de cena.

(adjectif) maladroit; empoté; godiche; avoir des mains de beurre; brise-tout [Maladroit ; qui a tendance à laisser tomber les objets.]

Le serveur maladroit a fait tomber trois assiettes pendant le service du dîner.

(Adjektiv) tollpatschig; ungeschickt; zwei linke Hände haben [Dazu neigend, Dinge fallen zu lassen; ungeschickt im Umgang mit Gegenständen.]

Der **butterfingered** Kellner ließ gleich zwei Teller fallen.

(形容詞) 物をよく落とす。不器用な。

不器用なウェイターはディナーサービス中に皿を3枚割ってしまった。

(adjetivo) desastrado; desajeitado; trapalhão; mão de vaca [Propenso a deixar cair coisas; desastrado.]

O garçom desastrado derrubou três pratos durante o serviço de jantar.

Word parts: butter + finger + ed

Related words

Get offline access, pronunciation, spaced repetition, and learning games:

Download Syntaxiom →
📱 Offline access 🔊 Pronunciation 🧠 Spaced repetition 📖 Native language bridges