Clumsy in Malayalam
These options offer no neutral adjective for clumsy; both are insults aimed at a person rather than descriptions of awkward movement. The nearer one is പഴുപ്പന് (pazhuppan), used idiomatically of a dull, spiritless and useless fellow. Read it pa-zhup-pan.
A bilious, unhealthy man; (idm.) a spiritless, dull man, a useless, clumsy fellow.
അവന് ഒരു പഴുപ്പനാണെന്ന് കൂട്ടുകാര് കളിയാക്കി.
avan oru pazhuppananennu koottukar kaliyakki.
His friends teased that he is a dull fellow.
All Malayalam words for “clumsy”
- പഴുപ്പന് (pazhuppan) — A bilious, unhealthy man; (idm.) a spiritless, dull man, a useless, clumsy fellow.
- ശവം (shavam) — Dead body, corpse; (fig.) clumsy, useless fellow.
ശവം (shavam) literally means a corpse and is thrown at someone as a figure of speech for a clumsy, useless person, so it is far harsher than pazhuppan.
Common questions
How do you say clumsy in Malayalam?
പഴുപ്പന് (pazhuppan) is the listed word, an idiom for a dull, clumsy fellow rather than a plain adjective.
Is shavam rude?
Very much so. ശവം (shavam) means corpse, and used of a living person it is an insult.