• klutz •
Printable Version Pronunciation: klêts • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A dolt, a jerk, a putz, a schlemiel, which is to say, a clumsy, awkward person who seldom gets anything right.
Notes: Klutziness is the noun that pinpoints the klutz's problem. As you can see in the definitions, it is enough of a problem that we have joined forces with Yiddish to create a sufficiency of words to express it. The noun is derived from the adjective, klutzy (klutzier, klutziest). Don't forget the spare [e] when you write the plural: klutzes.
In Play: The fun in today's word is that is almost onomatopoetic; it just sounds right for its meaning: "M. T. Head is such a klutz that he tied his shoes together and fell on the dog when he tried to stand." That example gives you some idea of what defines a klutz. "In the middle of summer the klutz left a dozen chocolate bars on top of his dashboard, which is now chocolate coated."
Word History: Today's Good Word is another gift from Yiddish, this time klots "block, log", which it borrowed from Middle High German kloz with a similar meaning. The semantic relation here parallels to our own blockhead, which originally referred to a wooden block on which hats were shaped. The same Old German root turned up in English as both clot and clod. Today's Good Word is historically unrelated to the Klux in Ku Klux Klan, an understandable misperception any one could have.
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!
