Dictionary

cack-handedness en · NOUN

Etymology

From cack-handed + -ness.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Left-handedness.
   • Now the chances of the casual golfer being able to borrow a set of left-handed clubs are pretty slim ; so I had to do the best I could with a bagful of right-handed clubs which, owing to my natural cack-handedness, I had to grip with the right hand over the left... 1946, Spike Hughes, Opening Bars: Beginning an Autobiography, page 258:
   • We can also see it as part of that vast repertoire of symbolism associated with right and left, which permeates so much of our daily lives, from the political left and right wing, through dexterity and 'cack-handedness', to 'lefthanded marriages'. 2013, Chris McManus, Right Hand, Left Hand, →ISBN, page 3:
2. (uncountable) Clumsiness or incompetence.
   • Such opportunities help learners to overcome their cack-handedness and to develop their ability to use equipment comfortably. 2013, Ian Scott, Jenny Spouse, Practice Based Learning in Nursing, Health and Social Care, →ISBN:
   • “No,” I say and take the phone offline. “It's mismanagement. Bungling. Ineptitude. Incompetence. Cack-handedness." 2008, Ramsey Campbell, The Grin of the Dark, →ISBN, page 237:
3. (uncountable) Back-handedness
   • Martin Maloney 's painting, Sony Levi, with its assured cack-handedness and considered vacuity can stand as an emblem of the movement. 1999, Julian Stallabrass, High Art Lite: British Art in the 1990s, →ISBN, page 217:

Forms