left-handed meaning

left-handed as an adjective

1. using or intended for the left hand
   • left-handed golfers need left-handed clubs
   • left-handed scissors

   Opposite: ambidextrous, right-handed

   Similar: left, sinistral

   Related forms: left-handedness

2. (of marriages) illicit or informal
   • in Colonial America left-handed marriages between Frenchmen and Indians were frequent

   Similar: illegitimate

3. (of marriages) of a marriage between one of royal or noble birth and one of lower rank; valid but with the understanding that the rank of the inferior remains unchanged and offspring do not succeed to titles or property of the superior

   Synonyms: morganatic

   Similar: legitimate

4. rotating to the left

   Synonyms: levorotary, levorotatory

   Similar: counterclockwise

5. ironically ambiguous
   • a left-handed compliment

   Similar: ambiguous

6. lacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands
   • a bumbling mechanic
   • a bungling performance
   • ham-handed governmental interference
   • could scarcely empty a scuttle of ashes, so handless was the poor creature

   Synonyms: bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed

   Similar: maladroit

How to pronounce left-handed

left-handed is pronounced /ˌlɛftˈhændɪd/ in American English. It has 3 syllables, with the stress on the second syllable.