All Thumbs | Idioms Online

Home » What Does All Thumbs Mean » All Thumbs | Idioms Online

Maybe your like

Meaning of Idiom ‘All Thumbs’

To be all thumbs means to be physically awkward and clumsy, especially with one’s hands. 1Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003. 2Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.

Want to see more videos from Idioms.Online? Subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Sentence Examples

“I dropped an expensive vase yesterday and had to pay for it. I’m all thumbs.”

“Pete loves working with his hands. Too bad he’s all thumbs!”

Meaning of English idiom All Thumbs

Origin

This idiom, derived from a proverb dating from the 1500’s, alludes to how awkward it would be to have all of one’s fingers be thumbs. A proverb in John Heywood’s 1546 collection is an antecedent:

“When he should get aught, each finger is a thumb.” 3Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

25 Body Parts Idioms | Idioms Online Video

Want to see more videos from Idioms.Online? Subscribe to our YouTube channel!

More Idioms Starting with A

  • Add Fuel to the Fire
  • All Tuckered Out
  • Are You Writing a Book?
  • Army Brat
  • And How

More All Idioms

  • All Tuckered Out
  • All Hell Breaks Loose
  • All of a Sudden
  • After All
  • Not For All the Tea in China
  • All That Glitters Is Not Gold

More Body Part Idioms

  • Go Belly Up
  • Stand On Someone’s Shoulders
  • In One’s Face
  • Give Someone the Cold Shoulder
  • Know Something Like the Back Of One’s Hand

More Thumb Idioms

  • Thumb Your Nose At Someone Meaning
  • Green Thumb Meaning (have a)

This page contains one or more affiliate links. See full affiliate disclosure.

Tag » What Does All Thumbs Mean