How to Say Someone Is CLUMSY in Portuguese

If you ever wanted to say that someone is clumsy in Portuguese, you probably noticed that in Brazil we don’t use just one word: we use several. Here I’ll teach you how to say clumsy in Portuguese with the 7 most common forms that we Brazilians use day to day, the ones that come out on their own when your friend knocks over everything in their path.

You’ll learn words like desastrado, desajeitado, atrapalhado, and lerdo, with sentences so you know exactly when to use each one when talking about a clumsy person in Portuguese. And since in Brazil we react to everything with sounds, I’ll also explain what “aff” means in Portuguese, that expression of ours you’ll hear on every corner.

By the end you’ll have exactly the vocabulary you need to say that someone is clumsy without sounding like a literal translation, but the way we would say it. Hit play on the video, read the sentences out loud, and stay until the end: that’s how it really sticks. Bora?

Video: How to Say Someone Is CLUMSY in Portuguese

Phrases to Say Someone Is CLUMSY in Portuguese

Desastrado

The most common word to say that someone is clumsy in Portuguese: it’s that person who breaks or knocks over everything by accident. It works for people and also for situations that go wrong.

• Nunca vi uma pessoa mais desastrada que o irmão dele, toda vez que a gente sai ele quebra alguma coisa.

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Destrambelhado

A more chaotic and disorganized kind of clumsy: the one who does things any old way and isn’t careful. It sounds more informal and a bit stronger than desastrado.

• – Você vai pedir pra ele trazer as taças?
  – Não tô nem louco, do jeito que ele é destrambelhado é capaz de nenhuma taça chegar inteira aqui.
• Às vezes ela é muito destrambelhada, não tem jeito com as coisas.

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Desajeitado

Clumsy in the sense of unskilled or ungraceful: someone without the dexterity to do something, to move, or even to get dressed. Watch the nuance between “ser” and “estar”, because here it changes everything.

• Você é muito desajeitado pra falar em público, já cogitou fazer um curso de oratória? (the way of being)
• Você ESTÁ muito desajeitado pra falar em público, não tem uma roupa melhor? (the way of dressing)
• Como você consegue ficar num quarto tão desajeitado como o seu? (messy room)

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Atrapalhado / Atrapalhar

The clumsy one who gets tangled up and makes a mess of doing things. As a verb, atrapalhar means to get flustered or trip yourself up, and it’s one of the most common uses when someone acts clumsy in Portuguese.

• Você já tentou contar a históriaa duas vezes e se atrapalhou, deixa comigo que eu conto.
• Cuidado quando for guardar isso pra não derrubar nada, eu já sei que você tem fama de ser atrapalhado.

The best example of an ATRAPALHADA person is El Chavo del 8 (Chaves in Portuguese)

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Desengonçado

Clumsy when moving: the one who walks or moves in an uncoordinated way, kind of “loose-jointed”. It’s used a lot for posture and the way of walking.

• Até que ela se veste bem, mas anda de uma forma muito desengonçada, se ela quiser desfilar vai ter que dar um jeito nisso.

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Avoado

This one is the clumsy that’s more absent-minded than uncoordinated: the distracted person who’s “up in the clouds” and doesn’t pay attention. Clumsy of mind, not of hands.

• Nossa cara, você é muito avoado né, já expliquei 3 vezes mas vejo que você não presta atenção.

Lerdo

Clumsy in the sense of slow: someone who takes a while to understand or to do things. In Brazil we use it both for mental slowness and for doing everything at a snail’s pace.

• Cara, vou deixar pra estudar amanhã, tô muito lerdo pra entender esse assunto, além do mais já tá tarde e eu tô quase capotando de sono. (slow to understand something)
• Ele disse que não gostava de fazer esses processos burocráticos porque o pessoal que trabalha no escritório é muito lerdo, fazem as coisas devagar quase parando. (slow to do something)

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What Does ENTORPECENTE Mean in Portuguese?

Here’s an important heads-up so you don’t fall into the trap: even though it looks like “torpe”, the word entorpecente in Portuguese has nothing to do with being clumsy or desastrado. It’s a classic false friend. In Portuguese, entorpecente is a noun that means narcotic, that is, a substance that numbs the senses. In English the closest word is narcotic.

The word comes from the verb entorpecer, which in Portuguese means to numb, to dull, or to leave the senses “asleep”. That’s why we say a drug or a strong medicine pode entorpecer os sentidos. Notice how the same verb exists in Spanish, but in Brazil we almost always use it in that sense of numbing, not in the sense of “making someone clumsy”.

• A polícia apreendeu uma grande quantidade de entorpecentes no porta-malas do carro. (narcotics)
• O remédio é tão forte que pode entorpecer os sentidos por algumas horas. (to numb)

So, to remember it easily: if you want to say that someone is clumsy in Portuguese, use desastrado, desajeitado, or atrapalhado, never “entorpecente”. And if you hear the word entorpecente in the news, you already know they’re talking about narcotics, not a clumsy person.

What Does “AFF” Mean in Portuguese?

Besides the vocabulary for saying clumsy in Portuguese, it’s worth learning this expression: “aff” is an interjection we Brazilians use to show annoyance, tiredness, or displeasure. Here are some examples with sentences:

• Aff… que calor.
• Aff, que demora pra terminar isso.
• Aff, que fome.
• Aff, não tenho paciência pra essas coisas.

It’s like saying “urrgh” to emphasize something bad.

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Sentences with DESASTRADO

“Eu e esse meu jeito desastrado de ser meiga.”

– Heloisa Burtet

On the site O Pensador you’ll find more sentences with DESASTRADO.