shovel-handed adjective1 •brawny and large, with connotations of being unintelligent, as one who is fit for digging ditches.I do not wish any mass at all, but honest men only, lovely, sweet, accomplished women only, and no shovel-handed, narrow-brained, gin-drinking million stockingers or lazzaroni at all. — 1870 formsmore shovel-handed · most shovel-handed