Maladroit means clumsy or awkward, especially in handling situations or dealing with people. Someone who is maladroit might knock over a glass while reaching for the salt, or say something embarrassing at exactly the wrong moment.

You might describe a basketball player as maladroit if they keep tripping over their own feet, or call a comment maladroit if it accidentally hurts someone's feelings even though that wasn't the intention.

Being maladroit isn't the same as being mean or careless. A maladroit person might try very hard to do something right but still fumble it. When your friend nervously spills juice at lunch while trying to impress someone, that's a maladroit moment. When a character in a story makes an honest but clumsy attempt to help and somehow makes things worse, that's maladroit behavior.

The opposite of maladroit is adroit, which means skillful and graceful. Most people feel maladroit sometimes, especially when trying something new or feeling nervous. With practice and experience, maladroit moments usually become less frequent.