| awkward | (adj) causing inconvenience, Example: they arrived at an awkward time |
| awkward | (adj) lacking grace or skill in manner or movement or performance, Ant. graceful, Example: an awkward dancer; an awkward gesture; too awkward with a needle to make her own clothes; his clumsy fingers produced an awkward knot |
| awkward | (adj) difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape, Syn. clumsy, ungainly, bunglesome, Example: an awkward bundle to carry; a load of bunglesome paraphernalia; clumsy wooden shoes; the cello, a rather ungainly instrument for a girl |
| awkward | (adj) not elegant or graceful in expression, Syn. cumbersome, ill-chosen, inapt, inept, clumsy, Example: an awkward prose style; a clumsy apology; his cumbersome writing style; if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now? |
| awkward | (adj) hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment, Syn. sticky, embarrassing, unenviable, Example: awkward (or embarrassing or difficult) moments in the discussion; an awkward pause followed his remark; a sticky question; in the unenviable position of resorting to an act he had planned to save for the climax of the campaign |
| awkward | (adj) socially uncomfortable; unsure and constrained in manner, Syn. ill at ease, uneasy, Example: awkward and reserved at parties; ill at ease among eddies of people he didn't know; was always uneasy with strangers |
| awkwardly | (adv) in an awkward manner, Example: he bent awkwardly |
| awkwardness | (n) unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training, Syn. maladroitness, slowness, ineptitude, clumsiness, ineptness |
| awkwardness | (n) the quality of an embarrassing situation, Syn. nuisance value, Example: he sensed the awkwardness of his proposal |
| awkwardness | (n) the carriage of someone whose movements and posture are ungainly or inelegant, Syn. clumsiness, Ant. gracefulness |
| Awkward | a. [ Awk + -ward. ] And dropped an awkward courtesy. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] A long and awkward process. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ] An awkward affair is one that has gone wrong, and is difficult to adjust. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ] O blind guides, which being of an awkward religion, do strain out a gnat, and swallow up a cancel. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ] -- |
| Awkward squad | . (Mil.) A squad of inapt recruits assembled for special drill. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] |