Dictionary

butterfingers en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [-ɾɚ-] (General-American)
• /ˈbʌtɚˌfɪŋɡɚz/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈbʌtəˌfɪŋɡəz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From butter + fingers (suggesting that someone is clumsy and drops things as if their hands are coated in slippery butter), from butterfingered.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal) Someone who tends to drop things; (more generally) someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated; a klutz.
   • [A]t every bad attempt at a catch, and every failure to stop the ball, he launched his personal displeasure at the head of the devoted individual in such denunciations as—"Ah, ah!—stupid"—"Now butter-fingers"—"Muff"—"Humbug"—and so forth—ejaculations which seemed to establish him in the opinion of all around, as a most excellent and undeniable judge of the whole art and mystery of the noble game of cricket. 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “How Mr. Winkle, instead of Shooting at the Pigeon and Killing the Crow, Shot at the Crow and Wounded the Pigeon; […]”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 69:
   • I am such a butterfingers. That’s the third drink I’ve spilled today.
   • “[…] Please don't handle them [birds’ eggs], Me! They are very fragile, and I would’nt^([sic – meaning wouldn’t]) lose them for anything.” / “I must hold them—just this once,” persists Me. “Don’t think I shall be such a butter[-]fingers as to break them. I’ve handled heaps of eggs before these!” 1883, Frances I[sabelle] M. Kershaw, “Master Me”, in Baby: A Study of Baby Life, London: Burns and Oates, […], →OCLC, page 95:
2. (idiomatic, informal) One's fingers which tend to drop things, or are clumsy or uncoordinated.
   • “I guess everyone’s got butterfingers around here,” Cole said with a sly smile. “Lucky for us, I’ve got fast reflexes.” 2014, Scott Ciencin, chapter 1, in Luck Be a Lady […] (Charmed), New York, N.Y.: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, →ISBN, page 4:
   • “That boy’s got butterfingers,” Connor went on. “That’s twice he’s dropped a tool. He’s got no place on a construction site.” 2017, Cora Seton, chapter 9, in Issued to the Bride: One Marine, San Bernardino, Calif.: One Acre Press, →ISBN:
3. (idiomatic, informal) A tendency to drop things, or to be clumsy or uncoordinated.

Forms

Deriveds

butterfinger

Relateds

butterfingered

Synonyms

butterfinger

Translations (36)

pt mãos de manteiga (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · fi mämmikoura (someone who tends to drop things) · hu lyukaskezű (someone who tends to drop things) · ru растяпа (someone who tends to drop things) · it mano di pastafrolla (someone who tends to drop things) · pt mãos de manteiga (someone who tends to drop things) · es manazas (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · de Tollpatsch (someone who tends to drop things) · cs nemehlo (someone who tends to drop things) · pt mãos de manteiga (one’s fingers which tend to drop things, or are clumsy or uncoordinated) · fi pääsiäiskäsi (someone who tends to drop things) · es manazas (someone who tends to drop things) · fr maladroit (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · de Tölpel (someone who tends to drop things) · el μανταλάκιας (someone who tends to drop things) · de unbeholfener Mensch (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · es torpe (someone who tends to drop things) · fr maladroit (e) (someone who tends to drop things) · mi ninipa (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · es manos muertas (someone who tends to drop things) · fi nakkisormi (someone who tends to drop things) · cs gramloň (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · cs poleno (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · el ζημιάρης (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · gl zoupón (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · mi ninipa (someone who tends to drop things) · fr avoir deux mains gauches (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · cs nemehlo (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · de ungeschickte Person (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · hu kétbalkezes (someone who tends to drop things) · es manos de manteca (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · pt mão furada (someone who tends to drop things) · de Mensch mit zwei linken Händen (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · cs nešika (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · cs motovidlo (someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated) · fi rähmäkäpälä (someone who tends to drop things)