all-thumbs
Lacking manual dexterity
All-thumbs describes someone clumsy with their hands, as if their fingers were replaced by thumbs—useful for gripping but hopeless for delicate work.
The phrase usually appears predicatively: I'm all thumbs when it comes to sewing.
Someone who is all-thumbs drops things, fumbles catches, and struggles with fine motor tasks.
Clumsy, uncoordinated handling
- butterfingersClumsy dropper of things
- awkwardLacking grace or ease
- uncoordinatedLacking physical grace
- klutzyLacking physical coordination
ham-fisted · maladroit · bumbling · inept · ungainly · graceless · oafish · lumbering
Letting something fall
- spillingLiquid flowing over edges
- breakingComing apart suddenly
- sewingCraft with needle and thread
- threadingPassing strand through opening
typing · texting · assembling · knitting · surgery · origami · chopsticks · buttoning
Beyond possibility of success
- uselessWithout practical value
- incompetentLacking necessary skill
- unskilledLacking acquired competence
- amateurNonprofessional participant
novice · inexperienced · learning · practicing · struggling · frustrated · apologetic · embarrassed
fumbling
Clumsy, uncoordinated handling
- butterfingersClumsy dropper of things
- awkwardLacking grace or ease
- uncoordinatedLacking physical grace
klutzy · ham-fisted · maladroit · bumbling · inept · ungainly · graceless · oafish · lumbering · stumbling
dropping
Letting something fall
threading · typing · texting · assembling · knitting · surgery · origami · chopsticks · buttoning · tying
hopeless
Beyond possibility of success
- uselessWithout practical value
- incompetentLacking necessary skill
- unskilledLacking acquired competence
amateur · novice · inexperienced · learning · practicing · struggling · frustrated · apologetic · embarrassed · helpless
all-thumbsdeft
Skillful and quick
dexterous · nimble-fingered · sure-handed · adroit · handy