lumpish

adj

Etymology: Partly: * from Late Middle English lumprissh, lumpryssh (“of a somewhat lumpy consistency”), from lumpe (“mass of material; excrescence, swelling; mass of people, crowd; useless person”) or lumpred (“piled up or twisted into lumps”) (both possibly related to Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to glide; to go; to hang limply”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lembʰ- (“to hang limply”)) + -ish (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of the nature of; similar to; somewhat’); and * from lump (noun, verb) + -ish. Compare English lumber.

1. Having an ill-defined or rough form or shape like a lump; lumplike.

   “The Sprite […] lifting vp his lompiſh head, vvth blame / Halfe angrie asked him, for vvhat he came.”

   “It ſeems to me that mere unmixed uglineſs does not ariſe from ſharp angles, or from any ſudden variation, but rather from that want of form, that unſhapen lumpiſh appearance, vvhich, perhaps, no one vvord exactly expreſſes; a quality that never can be miſtaken for beauty, never can adorn it, and vvhich is equally unconnected vvith the ſublime and the pictureſque.”

2. Awkward and ungainly in appearance or movement; clumsy, inelegant.

   “[H]e emerged from some struggling trees, and looked out upon a wild moorish country, composed of a succession of swelling lumpish hills, […]”

   “Continental soldiers looked lumpish beside our lean-bred fellows: but against my supple Nejdis the British in their turn looked lumpish.”

3. Dull and slow in acting, thinking, etc.; without energy; cloddish, lethargic, slow-witted, sluggish.

   “So forth he vvent, / VVith heauy looke and lumpiſh pace, that plaine / In him bevvraid great grudge and maltalent; / His ſteed eke ſeemd t'apply his ſteps to his intent.”

   “[A] ſong I prethee, I loue theſe French moouings; oh they are ſo cleane if you treade them true, you ſhal hit them to a haire; ſing, ſing, ſing ſome odde and fantaſticall thing, for I cannot abide these dull and lumpiſh tunes, the Muſition ſtands longer a pricking them then I vvould doe to heare them: no, no, no, giue mee your light ones, that goe nimbly and quicke, and are full of changes, and carrie ſvveet deuiſion […]”

4. Of sound: dull, heavy.

   “The uplifted Hanger dropped from his Hand, and he fell proſtrate on the Floor vvith a lumpiſh Noiſe, and his Halfpence rattled in his Pocket; the red Liquor vvhich his Veins contained, and the vvhite Liquor vvhich the Pot contained, ran in one Stream dovvn his Face and his Clothes.”

   “Thou bear'ſt aloof, and look'ſt vvith high diſdain, / Upon the dull mechanic train; / VVhoſe nerveleſs ſtrains flag on in languid tone, / Lifeless and lumpiſh as the bagpipe's drovvzy drone.”

5. Full of lumps; lumpy.
6. Of a thing: having a shape and/or weight which makes it inconvenient to move; cumbersome, unwieldy.

   “[I]t is better to have a ſhaft [of an arrow] a litle to ſhort than over longe, ſomevvhat to light, than over lumpiſhe, a litle to ſmal, than a greate deale to big, […]”

7. Miserable, sad.

   “He [the Devil] marketh well […] mennes complexions within thẽ [them], health, or ſicknes, good humours or badde, by which they be light hearted or lumpiſh, ſtrong hearted, or faynt & fieble of ſpirite, bolde and hardy, or timorous and fearefull of courage.”

   “After them vvent Diſpleaſure and Pleaſaunce, / He looking lompiſh and full ſullein ſad, / And hanging dovvne his heauy countenaunce; / She chearfull freſh and full of ioyaunce glad, / As if no ſorrovv ſhe ne felt ne dread; […]”