Lubberly
adj, adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Clumsy and stupid; resembling a lubber (an inexperienced person).
"a great lubberly boy"
- 2 Lacking in seamanship; of or suitable to a landlubber who is new to being at sea and unfamiliar with the ways of a sailor.
""Do not use such a lubberly expression, my dear Rose, if you respect your father's profession. On a vessel is a new-fangled Americanism, that is neither fish, flesh, nor red-herring, as we sailors say,— neither English nor Greek.""
- 1 inexperienced in seamanship wordnet
- 2 clumsy and unskilled wordnet
- 1 In the manner of a landlubber.
"I'm not ignorant of these matters, having been many years at sea—and seamen, you must know, are curious in knots; I cannot endure to see anything done lubberly."
Example
More examples"Ponocrates and Eudemon burst out in a laughing so heartily, that they had almost split with it, and given up the ghost, in rendering their souls to God: even just as Crassus did, seeing a lubberly ass eat thistles;"
Etymology
From lubber + -ly.
More for "lubberly"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.