What's the difference between blunder and clumsy?

Blunder


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To make a gross error or mistake; as, to blunder in writing or preparing a medical prescription.
  • (v. i.) To move in an awkward, clumsy manner; to flounder and stumble.
  • (v. t.) To cause to blunder.
  • (v. t.) To do or treat in a blundering manner; to confuse.
  • (n.) Confusion; disturbance.
  • (n.) A gross error or mistake, resulting from carelessness, stupidity, or culpable ignorance.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The score should have been tied at 2-2 and the natural German retort that one of Geoff Hurst's goals in the 1966 World Cup was imaginary hardly makes the blunder of officials more palatable in Bloemfontein.
  • (2) The catalogue of blunders produced an angry response from congressmen in both parties who questioned the competence of Pierson, who was herself brought in to clean up the elite unit after earlier scandals in which drunken officers were found passed out during a presidential trip to Amsterdam and visiting prostitutes in Colombia.
  • (3) But it is not clear whether that will be enough to save McChrystal's job after what is the latest of a series of political blunders.
  • (4) Anthony King is professor of government at Essex University and co-author with Ivor Crewe of The Blunders of Our Governments, to be published next week
  • (5) From millions of BBC words, blunders and scandals are relatively few.
  • (6) That should mean, among other changes from Monday’s win at Hull , that Danny Welbeck returns up front even if Olivier Giroud relocated the net after a couple of months blundering about in the dark.
  • (7) But after David de Gea's blunder allowed Phil Bardsley's 119th-minute shot to slip in, Javier Hernández grabbed a lifeline with a strike seconds later to take the tie into the shootout.
  • (8) Blunders by hospital staff which leave newborn babies brain-damaged in the first few days of their lives are set to cost the NHS more than £235m, official figures reveal.
  • (9) A horrendous blunder by Mertesacker presents the ball to Aluko, who goes around Fabianksi.
  • (10) Results indicated an effect of sex identification; the male blunderer was derogated most by male subjects (n = 34) and the female most by female subjects (n = 34).
  • (11) The Obama administration on Monday approved Shell’s plan to resume drilling for oil and gas in the treacherous and fragile waters off the coast of Alaska , three years after the Anglo-Dutch oil giant was forced to suspend operations following a series of potentially dangerous blunders.
  • (12) They've conceded only one goal due to a goalie blunder (against admittedly limited opposition) and not lost.
  • (13) "In a post-Fukushima environment where nuclear planning is being halted in Germany and Japan it seems bizarre that the (UK) government is blundering ahead with disposing of nuclear waste in the most absurdly inappropriate place," she said.
  • (14) The plot of Emma turns on Frank Churchill's "blunder" in mentioning the likelihood of Mr Perry, the local apothecary, "setting up his carriage".
  • (15) A brief inquest a year later did not expose the hospital's blunder.
  • (16) The sport’s global governing body has admitted that Joubert blundered by awarding the Wallabies the last-gasp penalty that Bernard Foley kicked to seize a 35-34 victory at Twickenham on Sunday, robbing Scotland of a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
  • (17) Inevitably the commentators (and so far in my researches, they were all women) pondered on Lawson's motivation, and whether this decision was a style blunder, a "betrayal of her own brand", or a defiant and admirable insistence on privacy for her body.
  • (18) It's hard to watch these executions and not realise that these blunders are bound to happen,” he said.
  • (19) In a front-page comment piece, Aluf Benn, the editor-in-chief of Haaretz, wrote: "Instead of hushing up the blunder, [gag orders] merely shine a spotlight on it.
  • (20) He’s not in power yet, so he still gets to blunder around lobbing out daft policies willy-nilly in the hope that one of them will scan.

Clumsy


Definition:

  • (superl.) Stiff or benumbed, as with cold.
  • (superl.) Without skill or grace; wanting dexterity, nimbleness, or readiness; stiff; awkward, as if benumbed; unwieldy; unhandy; hence; ill-made, misshapen, or inappropriate; as, a clumsy person; a clumsy workman; clumsy fingers; a clumsy gesture; a clumsy excuse.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In both, objective aggravation occurred in three or more steps over four days, progressing from minor finger clumsiness to total paralysis of the arm.
  • (2) Since she was 25-year-old, she had had insomnia which accompanied by choked feelings, palpitations, clumsiness of hands and anxiety.
  • (3) Salmond and his finance secretary, John Swinney, have pushed for Scotland to be given control over corporation tax, excise duties and greater borrowing powers in the new bill, but those measures were rejected as ill thought out and clumsy by the UK government and Labour.
  • (4) The problem is that, whilst severely affected children can be readily recognized, identification of mildly and moderately clumsy children is difficult.
  • (5) Clumsy US tactics and policies exacerbated a deteriorating situation.
  • (6) Several lines from the 1984 song were heavily criticised here and in Africa for being clumsy and patronising, including the one about no rivers flowing in Africa – the continent of the Nile, Congo and Niger.
  • (7) Ethanol impaired performance in most objective tests and produced clumsiness, muzziness, and mental slowness, but little drowsiness.
  • (8) The unfairly maligned camel is a model of sleek, practical and elegant design compared with the clumsy creature the coalition has produced.
  • (9) The arcane wiring when electricity came along, the subsequent clumsy rewiring; the cheap flat conversion in the 1960s; the constant saga of patch and mend from occupants who never have the money or vision to remake the whole thing from scratch - all this, and more, was paralleled on the WCML on an enormous scale.
  • (10) It is difficult to comprehend the logic of expecting improvements in this agenda while withdrawing half a billion dollars in funding to many service agencies, and leaving them poised precariously at the mercy of a clumsy and poorly executed “advancement” strategy.
  • (11) DZ but not O 60 was reported to have caused lethargy and clumsiness during subchronic treatment.
  • (12) A nine year-old girl admitted to our hospital complaining of clumsiness of hands and walking, disability of reading, headache and vomiting.
  • (13) Her main project is new girl Tai (the late Brittany Murphy) who arrives at school as a clumsy, unconfident "ugly duckling" ripe for making over – allowing the film to indulge in that wonderful 80s teen movie trope: the dressing up montage.
  • (14) Clinical syndromes were classified according to Fisher's criteria into pure motor hemiparesis (PM), sensorimotor stroke (SM) and ataxic hemiparesis (AH) including dysarthria clumsy hand syndrome.
  • (15) Observations by parents and teachers rated the clumsy children inferior to their controls in writing, sporting ability and clumsiness.
  • (16) Even if the move seemed dictatorial in the short term, it served to enshrine a constitution that in the long-term actually curtails Morsi's power – which to the Brotherhood makes his actions well-intentioned, if clumsy.
  • (17) The children with learning disabilities were divided into two groups--"clumsy" and "nonclumsy"--based on their scores on the motor impairment test.
  • (18) Fulham were furious in 2012 when Liverpool's attempt to take Clint Dempsey from them saw the Merseyside club deliver clumsy bulletins.
  • (19) Analysis of the data indicated that, as expected, the clumsy children with learning disabilities scored significantly lower than the children without learning disabilities (the control group).
  • (20) Abnormal clumsiness in otherwise normal children has often been associated with both perceptual and motor defects, but the cause of this problem remains unclear.