Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking ability or skill in the use of machinery and tools.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not mechanical.
  • Not in accordance with the observed laws or principles of mechanics, physics, or mathematics, conformity to which is necessary to success.
  • Not in accordance with practical experience in mechanical matters as respects convenient or continuous operation in practice.
  • Not designed in accordance with the methods or practice of the shop or factory which produces a successful commercial product.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not mechanical.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (of a person) lacking mechanical skills

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ mechanical

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Examples

  • a machine -- a machine utterly unmechanical, which is a contradiction of terms.

    The Breath of Life John Burroughs 1879

  • I wasn't sure what the problem was and, when he explained it in car lingo, my unmechanical ears couldn't decipher what he was saying.

    Matt Kepnes: Breaking Down in Australia Matt Kepnes 2010

  • I wasn't sure what the problem was and, when he explained it in car lingo, my unmechanical ears couldn't decipher what he was saying.

    Matt Kepnes: Breaking Down in Australia Matt Kepnes 2010

  • And all other mechanical contrivances should either be properly done, or not be had recourse to at all, for it is a disgraceful and awkward thing to use mechanical means in an unmechanical way.

    On Fractures 2007

  • He felt now that all of his working life had been leading up to this loud freedom, and after a few months he knew that he would not be able to return to pen and paper, to unmechanical solitude.

    The Master Colm Tóibín 2004

  • Her fingers trembled with an unmechanical disturbance.

    Split Infinity Anthony, Piers 1980

  • Her fingers trembled with an unmechanical disturbance.

    Split Infinity Anthony, Piers 1980

  • The De elocutione of Demetrius (first century A.D.) continues and extends the Aristotelian tradition of analysis of figures and tropes but again, in an unmechanical way, conveying the spirit as well as the technique.

    STYLE IN LITERATURE R. A. SAYCE 1968

  • The silence cabinet in which was enclosed the transmitting apparatus, had been forced open, and even the unmechanical

    The Pirate Shark Elliott Whitney

  • At Bailleul the Skipper had suggested our learning to manage the unmechanical horse.

    Adventures of a Despatch Rider William Henry Lowe Watson

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