'butterfingered' originates from English slang, specifically the compound phrase 'butter fingers', where 'butter' suggested 'slippery' and 'fingers' referred to the hands.

'butterfingered' changed from the slang phrase 'butter fingers' and the noun form 'butterfingers' (early 20th-century US slang) and eventually became the modern adjective 'butterfingered'.

Initially, it meant 'having fingers slippery as if coated with butter', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'clumsy or prone to dropping things'.