using or intended for the left hand; left-handed golfers need left-handed clubs; left-handed scissors'

(of marriages) illicit or informal; in Colonial America left-handed marriages between Frenchmen and Indians were frequent'

(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

[ Syn: morganatic ]

rotating to the left

[ Syn: levorotary , levorotatory ]

ironically ambiguous; a left-handed compliment'

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- Mary H. Vorse

[ Syn: bumbling , bungling , butterfingered , ham-fisted , ham-handed , handless , heavy-handed ]