awkward

[ awk-werd ]

/ ˈɔk wərd /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR awkward ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

lacking skill or dexterity.

lacking grace or ease in movement: an awkward gesture; an awkward dancer.

lacking social graces or manners: a simple, awkward frontiersman.

not well planned or designed for easy or effective use: an awkward instrument; an awkward method.

requiring caution; somewhat hazardous: an awkward turn in the road.

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.

Obsolete. untoward; perverse.

Origin of awkward

1300–50; Middle English, equivalent to awk(e), auk(e) ‘backhanded’, Old English *afoc (< Old Norse ǫfugr ‘turned the wrong way’; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German abuh, Old English afu(h)lic ‘wrong’, off) + -ward -ward

OTHER WORDS FROM awkward

awk·ward·ly, adverb awk·ward·ness, noun un·awk·ward, adjective un·awk·ward·ly, adverb

un·awk·ward·ness, noun

Words nearby awkward

awfully, awhato, awheel, awhile, awhirl, awkward, awkward age, awl, awl snail, awl-shaped, awless

Example sentences from the Web for awkward

Some immediately treated the young rapper as a punchline, turning his awkward posture in the photo into a meme.

Bobby Shmurda and Rap’s Ultimate Hoop Dream |Rawiya Kameir |December 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He sketched it quickly, his hand trembling, giving the drawing an awkward, palsied look.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days |David Freeman |December 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
ME3M was like online sex without the sex: seedy, dehumanized, segmented, and awkward—yet often still erotic.

Sneer and Clothing in Miami: Inside The $3 Billion Woodstock of Contemporary Art |Jay Michaelson |December 6, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He entered in an awkward alliance with Lapid to join the government but quickly distanced himself from it.

Goodbye to Israel’s Lousy Government (Let’s Hope the Next One Isn’t Worse) |Alon Ben-Meir |December 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

The Hangover star, currently in the critically acclaimed Birdman, certainly knows how to bring the funny as well as the awkward.

Brad Pitt and Louis C.K. Go ‘Between Two Ferns’ |Alex Chancey, The Daily Beast Video |October 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The position was an awkward one, and Winthrope weighed thirty or forty pounds more than Miss Leslie.

Into the Primitive |Robert Ames Bennet
She thought it was because she was so plain and awkward—and in part it was.

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1909 to 1922 |Lucy Maud Montgomery
Attempting to remount, I was as stiff and awkward as an octogenarian, and my restive mule would not stand for a moment.

The Secret Service. |Albert D. Richardson
She said it with an awkward flush; for Dick caught her eye as she spoke, and read her inner meaning.

Blood Royal |Grant Allen
Experience proves that an awkward ungainly style of shooting is very seldom successful.

The Theory and Practice of Archery |Horace Ford

British Dictionary definitions for awkward

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 situation; an awkward customer

deliberately uncooperative or unhelpful he could help but he is being awkward

dangerous or difficult an awkward ascent of the ridge

obsolete perverse

Derived forms of awkward

awkwardly, adverb awkwardness, noun

Word Origin for awkward

C14 awk, from Old Norse öfugr turned the wrong way round + -ward

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

awkward

adjective

Origin of awkward

OTHER WORDS FROM awkward

Words nearby awkward

Example sentences from the Web for awkward

British Dictionary definitions for awkward

adjective

Derived forms of awkward

Word Origin for awkward

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

awkward

adjective

Origin of awkward

OTHER WORDS FROM awkward

Words nearby awkward

Words related to awkward

Example sentences from the Web for awkward

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for awkward

adjective

Derived forms of awkward

Word Origin for awkward

British Dictionary definitions for awkward