Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

butterfingers

/ˈbʌtɚˌfɪŋɡɚz/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.98 in modern English

Syllables: but-ter-fing-ers
IPA: /ˈbʌtɚˌfɪŋɡɚz/

19

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Someone who tends to drop things; (more generally) someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated; a klutz.

Informal

noun

One's fingers which tend to drop things, or are clumsy or uncoordinated.

Informal

noun

A tendency to drop things, or to be clumsy or uncoordinated.

Informal

Example Sentences

"I am such a butterfingers. That’s the third drink I’ve spilled today."
"[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."
"“[…] 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!”"
"“I guess everyone’s got butterfingers around here,” Cole said with a sly smile. “Lucky for us, I’ve got fast reflexes.”"
"“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.”"

Etymology

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

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈbʌtɚˌfɪŋɡɚz/
British English: /ˈbʌtəˌfɪŋɡəz/

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

butter fingers (alternative)

Derived Forms

butterfinger

Frequently Paired Words

butterfingered

Synonyms

butterfinger

Questions

How do you pronounce butterfingers?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbʌtɚˌfɪŋɡɚz/.
What does butterfingers mean?: Someone who tends to drop things; (more generally) someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated; a klutz.
Where does butterfingers come from?: From butter + fingers (suggesting that someone is clumsy and drops things as if their hands are coated in slippery butter), from butterfingered.

How to pronounce butterfingers

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “butterfingers”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbʌtɚˌfɪŋɡɚz/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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