unhandiness

Handiness and unhandiness refer to the availability of one's

Gabriel (-Honoré) Marcel Treanor, Brian 2004

The mate roared with laughter at my unhandiness, encouraging the other men of his watch to join him.

Black Horses For The King McCaffrey, Anne 1996

The luck of the British navy would save them, or the unhandiness of the French.

Hornblower And The Hotspur Forester, C. S. 1962

But at last he started scratching the razor lightly under the chin, and, despite the unhandiness and difficulty of shaving in that quarter without also grasping the organ of smell, contrived, with the aid of a thumb planted firmly upon the cheek and the lower gum, to overcome all obstacles, and bring the shave to a finish.

Taras Bulba and Other Tales 1952

Fortunately Desmond, recognizing the unhandiness of his crew, had taken care to set no more sail than could be shortened at the briefest notice.

In Clive's Command A Story of the Fight for India Herbert Strang

Listing heavily to port, the _Tremendous_ turned with a rapidity that belied her huge bulk and apparent unhandiness.

The Submarine Hunters A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War Edward S. [Illustrator] Hodgson 1917

The galleys of Octavius were low in the water, and nimble in their handling; those of Antony were bulky and high, with five to ten banks of oars, and their natural unhandiness was made worse by

A History of Sea Power William Oliver Stevens 1916

He continued to laugh as he watched the unhandiness of the man staggering down the gangway under his burden.

The Man in the Twilight Ridgwell Cullum 1905

It may ha 'been from the unhandiness of their movements an' the way they clutched at us an 'at one another as we pulled 'em ashore.

News from the Duchy Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch 1903

But she was saved from reflecting on it overmuch: for Mrs. Grantham (after forty years of comfort without one) had conceived a desire to be waited on and have her hair dressed by a maid, and between Mrs. Grantham's inability to discover precisely what she wanted done by Patty, and Patty's unhandiness in doing it, and Mrs. Grantham's anxiety to fill up Patty's time, and

Hetty Wesley Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch 1903