www.alphadictionary.com

• maladroit •

Pronunciation: mæl-ê-droyt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Inept, clumsy, awkward, bungling.

Notes: Today's word has a purely English adverb, maladroitly, and an English noun, maladroitness. Mal- is a pretty active prefix in English, as indicated by maladjusted, malcontent, and malfunction.

In Play: Maladroit may be applied locally: "Lucinda Head is a socially maladroit young lady who has much to learn about cocktail parties." It may also be applied at a higher level: "The president's maladroit financial policies have landed this company in big trouble with our customers."

Word History: This word, again, was borrowed from French maladroit "clumsy, ham-fisted", comprising mal "badly" + adroit "dexterous, clever". Mal descended from Latin male "badly", the adverbial form of malus "bad, sick" from PIE mel-/mol- "false, bad, wrong". We find this stem in various English borrowings, such as malice, malady, malefactor, and dismal. French adroit is a combination of Old French à "to(ward)" (from Latin ad "[up] to") + droit "right, straight", all that's left of Latin directus "right, straight". Directus is the past participle of dirigere "to straighten, lead", made up of dis- "apart" + regere "to lead straight, direct, rule". The root of regere comes from the same source as Latin rex "king" and regula "straight stick, ruler", which came through Old French riule and ended up in English as the noun and verb rule.

Lovely word. I remember my father often referred to himself as being ambisinistrous - equally poor with either hand. Actually he was a reasonable-middling golfer and was once seen on the course unusually taking two airshots right-handed, hurling away his club, grabbing another from the bag, addressing the ball left-handed and striking a fine drive down the middle of the fairway. The players following were much amused.

AMBISINISTROUS a word I shall use the next time I spill a glass
of milk or juice all over the table. thanks.

Yes, my father was a great contributor to the language. I remember him emerging from the lavatory one day and declaring that "constipation is the thief of time" - surely a vastly superior epithet to the established 'procrastination' version

Yes, my father was a great contributor to the language. I remember him emerging from the lavatory one day and declaring that "constipation is the thief of time" - surely a vastly superior epithet to the established 'procrastination' version

His thoughts on time spent in the loo are mine exactly. I love it.
thanks for sharing that most apt imagery. I shall remember it,
for sure.