awkward

[awk-werd]

SEE MORE 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

Related formsawk·ward·ly, adverbawk·ward·ness, nounun·awk·ward, adjectiveun·awk·ward·ly, adverbun·awk·ward·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for awkwardness

ineptitude, ignorance, peril, discomfort, coarseness, greenness, rudeness, inability, incompetence, ineptness, gawkiness, tactlessness, crudeness, maladroitness, boorishness, inconvenience, risk, danger, bulkiness, uncomfortableness

Examples from the Web for awkwardness

Contemporary Examples of awkwardness

In a romantic relationship, facing humiliation or awkwardness is a strong possibility.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating
Ellie Schaack
January 1, 2015
Now for the complications and awkwardness, to say nothing of elbows and gossip and rivalries and all that other stuff.
A City Hall Affair to Remember
Lloyd Grove
October 22, 2014
With two Texans in the running as potential candidates, Sessions sought to diffuse any awkwardness.
Republicans Panicked After Eric Cantor Loss: ‘This Is Like Robespierre’
Ben Jacobs, Tim Mak
June 11, 2014
Rather, he dishes up a seemingly endless stream of examples of pettiness, irritation, hypocrisy and awkwardness.
Fear And Self-Loathing In Scandinavia: The Fiction Of Karl Ove Knausgaard
Ted Gioia
May 28, 2014
That is the awkwardness of testifying about intelligence matters in public.
Spy Chief James Clapper: We Can’t Stop Another Snowden
Eli Lake
February 24, 2014

Historical Examples of awkwardness

If there's any awkwardness about it, it sha'n't be on my side.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
Borrowed help has the awkwardness which Emerson attributes to borrowed thoughts.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
Could she have reckoned upon weaning me from him by a display of his awkwardness?
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
By the awkwardness of the unpacker, the statue's thumb was broken.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
She felt the awkwardness of being surrounded by people with whom she was unacquainted.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for awkwardness

awkward

adjective

lacking dexterity, proficiency, or skill; clumsy; ineptthe new recruits were awkward in their exercises

ungainly or inelegant in movements or posturedespite a great deal of practice she remained an awkward dancer

unwieldy; difficult to usean awkward implement

embarrassingan awkward moment

embarrassedhe felt awkward about leaving

difficult to deal with; requiring tactan awkward situation; an awkward customer

deliberately uncooperative or unhelpfulhe could help but he is being awkward

dangerous or difficultan awkward ascent of the ridge

obsolete perverse

Derived Formsawkwardly, adverbawkwardness, noun

Word Origin for awkward

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for awkwardness

1704, "lack of grace," from awkward + -ness. Meaning "physical clumsiness" is attested from c.1770; that of "social embarrassment" is from 1788.

awkward

adj.

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.