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awkward
[ awk-werd ]
adjective
- lacking skill or dexterity.
Synonyms: inexpert, unhandy, unskillful, inept, clumsy
- lacking grace or ease in movement:
an awkward gesture;
an awkward dancer.
Synonyms: uncoordinated, clumsy, maladroit, gawky, ungainly, graceless
Antonyms: graceful
- lacking social graces or manners:
a simple, awkward frontiersman.
Synonyms: unpolished, unrefined, gauche, ill-bred, unmannerly, ill-mannered, oafish
Antonyms: refined, polished, smooth, well-bred, well-mannered, polite, gracious
- not well planned or designed for easy or effective use:
an awkward instrument;
an awkward method.
Synonyms: unmanageable, troublesome, difficult, inconvenient, cumbersome, unwieldy
- requiring caution; somewhat hazardous:
an awkward turn in the road.
Synonyms: unsafe, risky, dangerous, treacherous, precarious, perilous, chancy
- hard to deal with; difficult; requiring skill, tact, or the like:
an awkward situation;
an awkward customer.
- embarrassing or inconvenient; caused by lack of social grace:
an awkward moment.
Synonyms: touchy, ticklish, uncomfortable, difficult, trying, unpleasant
- Obsolete. untoward; perverse.
awkward
/ ˈɔːkwəd /
adjective
- lacking dexterity, proficiency, or skill; clumsy; inept
the new recruits were awkward in their exercises
- ungainly or inelegant in movements or posture
despite a great deal of practice she remained an awkward dancer
- unwieldy; difficult to use
an awkward implement
- embarrassing
an awkward moment
- embarrassed
he felt awkward about leaving
- difficult to deal with; requiring tact
an awkward customer
an awkward situation
- deliberately uncooperative or unhelpful
he could help but he is being awkward
- dangerous or difficult
an awkward ascent of the ridge
- obsolete.perverse
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Derived Forms
- ˈawkwardly, adverb
- ˈawkwardness, noun
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Other Words From
- awkward·ly adverb
- awkward·ness noun
- un·awkward adjective
- un·awkward·ly adverb
- un·awkward·ness noun
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Word History and Origins
Origin of awkward1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of awkward1
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Example Sentences
It’s the first time I’ve read a book where every sentence is cowritten, and it didn’t feel awkward at all.
The painful consequence of that will be a clunky, suboptimal transposition of the physical to the virtual, right down—one fears—to an awkward videoconference cocktail hour.
You can also stretch one app across both screens, but it’s unsightly and awkward to have your content sliced down the middle with a big blank bar.
The latest service disruptions come at an awkward time for Robinhood.
Except that it’ll be rooted in awkward, funny and compelling reality.
The squabble was also immortalized in this incredibly awkward family portrait.
The rapper will.i.am was one such panelist, forced upon Gregory for an excruciatingly awkward roundtable segment.
Some immediately treated the young rapper as a punchline, turning his awkward posture in the photo into a meme.
He sketched it quickly, his hand trembling, giving the drawing an awkward, palsied look.
By two-thirty on the first afternoon at his house, I long for a cup of coffee but feel awkward about asking.
The moment was an awkward one, and Cynthia wished madly that she had not been prompted to ask that unfortunate question.
This was no strange sight to the boy by that time, but it was awkward in the circumstances, for he had neither gun nor spear.
Finally, his predicament became so awkward that an expression of distress crept into his face.
Meyer Isaacson said nothing; and, after a silence that was awkward, Nigel changed the conversation, and not long after went away.
Perhaps that made it awkward for him, as he was not accustomed to having his wife in such close proximity with him daily.
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