What's the difference between clumsy and cumbersome?

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.

Cumbersome


Definition:

  • (a.) Burdensome or hindering, as a weight or drag; embarrassing; vexatious; cumbrous.
  • (a.) Not easily managed; as, a cumbersome contrivance or machine.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Since this derived formula is very cumbersome to manipulate, tables have been prepared with computer assistance to read the estimated fetal weight directly.
  • (2) Determination of right ventricular ejection fraction and volumes from radionuclide studies is cumbersome and is subject to considerable methodologic error.
  • (3) Downing street – aware of the anguish of the families of these unconfirmed Britons – has privately expressed frustration at the cumbersome process of identification of the bodies following the killings last Friday.
  • (4) Methodological improvements of the stool smear assay may provide a substantially simplified method for the otherwise cumbersome identification of ETEC.
  • (5) The apparatus is drawn so that plastic sheets serve as substitutes for the elaborate, but cumbersome and unnecessary, locking systems mounted on all the commercial blotters.
  • (6) However, using standard methods, processing large numbers of samples for immunofluorescence is cumbersome and difficult.
  • (7) The conventional Marbrook culture system has several disadvantages; the preparation and assembly of the chambers is time consuming, the size of the culture vessels limits the number of replicates that may be set up, and placing the cells in the inner chamber is a cumbersome and slow process.
  • (8) However, advances in robotic sample preparation may allow the more cumbersome solid-phase isolation or extraction techniques to be used to improved sample throughput and specificity.
  • (9) The popular systems of classifying DRUJ disorders are based on etiology and treatment, but this approach has inspired schemes that are cumbersome, redundant, and incomplete.
  • (10) The EU must be able to act with the speed and flexibility of a network, not the cumbersome rigidity of a bloc.
  • (11) In the meantime, it is possible to evidence some features, sometimes shared with other species if taken separately, which in the whole characterize the epididymis in Equidae: the presence in principal cells of intranuclear inclusions and peculiar small granules in the basal cytoplasmic edge; the organization of groups of cells, likely to be principal ones, in such a way as to constitute intraepithelial crypts; a cumbersome presence of lipofuscinic matter all along the epithelium.
  • (12) HLA-DP typing using the Primed Lymphocyte Test (PLT) is a long and cumbersome technique requiring DP sensitized clones and bulk reagents.
  • (13) The main objections of seeking consent are as follows: it would be too cumbersome to obtain consent; if any patients witheld consent, prevalence studies would be less accurate; testing blood samples anonymously and without consent is an acceptable hospital practice; consent for such tests is not legally necessary; consent may be implied from the consent given to have blood taken; the consent requirement may be ignored in minor procedures; and there is no need for consent because testing could not harm anyone.
  • (14) A method is described in which a simple disposable plastic umbilical cord clamp replaces the traditional cumbersome instrument or expensive staples in the operation of end colostomy.
  • (15) Fenech said the multilayered, cumbersome intelligence apparatus was like an army of soldiers wearing lead boots.
  • (16) The usefulness of this parameter is reduced because of the cumbersome calculations required to determine the time within which an arterial pulse wave conducted via the arteriovenous anomaly reaches the jugular vein.
  • (17) Such systems are unable to reach a correct diagnosis quickly and often subject the user to a cumbersome dialogue.
  • (18) The overwhelming priority is to improve our financial and operating performance, improve our speed and response to events and improve internal controls.” East did not go into details about potential job cuts, business disposals, or exiting certain countries, but he said large layers of cumbersome bureaucracy needed to be stripped away so the company could function properly and respond to market changes.
  • (19) The patient is placed directly on this box, which makes the methods less cumbersome and more suitable for routine use.
  • (20) The 2-hr continuous measurement is, however, too long for a clinical examination and the 24-hr repeat measurement cumbersome.