gauche
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of gauche
1745–55; < French: awkward, left; Middle French, derivative of gauchir to turn, veer < Germanic
Explanation
Use the word gauche when you want to call something tacky, graceless, tactless, rude, boorish, or awkward and foolish. Have you just pointed out someone's misuse of this word? Oh dear, how gauche! Gauche was used for a long time to refer to things that were just so wrong, it almost hurt to talk about them, like publicly asking someone why they don’t like you. That is so gauche, it could induce a cringe! Gauche is almost a gauche word, as it is comes from a French word meaning left (as opposed to right). It would be gauche to call left-handed people tacky!
Vocabulary lists containing gauche
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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Negative Words to Describe a Person
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
France's Laura Gauche also walked away unscathed after crashing into the safety mats in the finish area.
From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026
Laura Gauche wearing the No. 26 bib then placed third, 0.41 seconds behind Goggia, for a first career podium finish.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2023
Bar food Monday through Thursday; full restaurant menu from Rive Gauche Restaurant kitchen — in the building — Friday through Sunday.
From Washington Post • Feb. 8, 2018
Bayou Gauche is a sliver of civilization where the trees are draped with Spanish moss and the border between water and land is ever shifting.
From New York Times • Dec. 18, 2017
And then he marched on, Gauche Boosey said, as if at least both sides of the street were his way.
From The Potiphar Papers by Curtis, George William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
