Sentence:  For as long as we have known him—and for most of us that has been for the lengths of our lifetimes—he has been the object of, and inspiration for, a delight so innocent and perfect that the attempt to analyse its sources seems an act of ingratitude, a laying on of <WSD>thumby</WSD> hands that will inevitably bollix the job. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Clumsy, awkward, maladroit, not dextrous, all thumbs