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awkward

see definition of awkward

adjclumsy, inelegant

adjdifficult to handle
adjembarrassing

Word Origin & History

mid-14c., "in the wrong direction," from awk "back-handed" + adverbial suffix -weard (see -ward). Meaning "clumsy" first recorded 1520s. Related: Awkwardly. Other formations from awk, none of them surviving, were awky, awkly, awkness.

Example Sentences for awkward

"It's the way you're treating me," he cried, with a clumsy man's awkward attempt at gesture.

The situation was awkward, and awkwardly he got himself out of it.

Never in my life did I feel so awkward as then, and it was not strange that you ridiculed me so.

In spite of the awkward sun helmet she carried her head imperiously.

The sheep were to be washed and sheared, too, and ...

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Synonyms for awkward

adj clumsy, inelegant

amateurish
rude
stiff
all thumbs
artless
blundering
bulky
bumbling
bungling
butterfingers
coarse
floundering
gawky
graceless
green
having two left feet
having two left hands
incompetent
inept
inexpert
klutzy
lumbering
maladroit
oafish
stumbling
uncoordinated
uncouth
unfit
ungainly
ungraceful
unhandy
unpolished
unrefined
unskilled
unskillful

Antonyms for awkward

adroit
artful
clever
convenient
dexterous
easy
elegant
graceful
handy
skillful
straightforward

More words related to awkward

affected

adjective. changed in a bad or artificial way

apish
artificial
assumed
awkward
campy
chichi
conceited
contrived
counterfeit
counterfeited
faked
false
feigned
fraud
gone Hollywood
ham
hammy
high falutin'
hollow
imitated
insincere
melodramatic
ostentatious
overdone
pedantic
phony
playacting
pompous
precious
pretended
pretentious
put-on
schmaltzy
self-conscious
shallow
sham
simulated
spurious
stiff
stilted
studied
superficial
theatrical
unnatural

angular

adjective. thin, especially referring to people

awkward
bony
gangling
gaunt
lank
lanky
lean
rangy
rawboned
scrawny
sharp
skinny
spare

bulky

adjective. huge

awkward
beefy
big
colossal
cumbersome
cumbrous
enormous
gross
heavy
hefty
high
hulking
immense
large
long
mammoth
massive
ponderous
substantial
unhandy
unmanageable
unwieldy
voluminous
weighty

bumbling

adjective. unskillful

awkward
blundering
bungling
butterfingered
clumsy
gauche
graceless
inept
maladroit
unpolished

bungling

adjective. clumsy

amateurish
awkward
gauche
inapt
inept
inexpert
maladroit
unskillful

constrained

adjective. forced

awkward
embarrassed
stiff
strained
uneasy
unnatural

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