I. ˈ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ adjective
Etymology: Middle English left handed, from left hand + -ed
1. : having the left hand more apt or usable than the right : preferring the left hand : southpaw
a brilliant left-handed pitcher
2.
a. : marked by clumsiness or ineptitude : awkward
b. : exhibiting deviousness or indirection : oblique , unintended
New England contributed to freedom of conscience only by the left-handed method of making martyrs to that cause — G.W.Johnson
c. obsolete : given to malevolent scheming or contriving : sinister , underhand
3. : marked by uncertain or ambiguous intent : backhanded , dubious , double-edged
is not very grateful for this support, which it considers a left-handed compliment — J.A.C.F.Auer
did the industry a left-handed favor — Steelways
4. archaic : portending ill : inauspicious
5.
a. : of, relating to, or born of a morganatic marriage
b. : of or relating to an illicit or informal liaison : illegitimate
though only four marriages between Frenchmen and Indians were recorded, left-handed marriages are known to have been frequent — William & Mary Quarterly
6. : left-hand 4
7.
a. : having a crystal structure that has a mirror-image relationship to another enantiomorphous structure regarded as right-handed in which the same compound can crystallize
left-handed quartz
b. : having crystal faces that result from and may be used to characterize such a structure
c. : levorotatory
8. of a rope : left-laid
9. : sinistral
left-handed whelks
• left-hand·ed·ly adverb
• left-hand·ed·ness noun -es
II. adverb
: with the left hand : in a left-handed manner : left-handedly
pitched left-handed