awkward
Other forms: awkwardest; awkwarder
If you are awkward, chances are you are uncomfortable. You could feel socially awkward, like when you forget the host's name. Or, you may feel physically awkward, like when you trip on your way to the podium.
Have you ever felt clumsy and that you had two left feet? That is how it is to feel awkward — literally that you are going in the wrong direction. Awkward is an example of a word literally meaning something and then figuratively meaning something related. Its Middle English roots are awke, meaning "backhanded," and -ward, to "go in the direction of." So, if you are feeling uncomfortable, or clumsy, it's probably because your hands are connected to you the wrong way!
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lacking grace or skill in manner or movement or performance“an awkward dancer”“an awkward gesture”“too awkward with a needle to make her own clothes”“his clumsy fingers produced an awkward knot”
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Synonyms:
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maladroit
not adroit
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ugly
displeasing to the senses
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clumsy, clunky, gawky, ungainly, unwieldy
lacking grace in movement or posture
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graceless, ungraceful
lacking grace; clumsy
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labored, laboured, stilted, strained
lacking natural ease
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wooden
lacking ease or grace
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Antonyms:
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graceful
characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution
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beautiful
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
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elegant
refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style
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elegant
displaying effortless beauty and simplicity in movement or execution
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fluent, fluid, liquid, smooth
smooth and unconstrained in movement
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gainly
graceful and pleasing
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gracile, willowy
slender and graceful
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lissom, lissome, lithe, lithesome, slender, supple, svelte, sylphlike
moving and bending with ease
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maladroit
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not elegant or graceful in expression“an awkward prose style”
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synonyms:
clumsy, cumbersome, ill-chosen, inapt, inept
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infelicitous
not appropriate in application; defective
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infelicitous
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socially uncomfortable; unsure and constrained in manner“awkward and reserved at parties”
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synonyms:
ill at ease, uneasy
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uncomfortable
conducive to or feeling mental discomfort
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uncomfortable
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difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape“an awkward bundle to carry”
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synonyms:
bunglesome, clumsy, ungainly
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unmanageable, unwieldy
difficult to use or handle or manage because of size or weight or shape
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unmanageable, unwieldy
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hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment“awkward (or embarrassing or difficult) moments in the discussion”“an awkward pause followed his remark”
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synonyms:
embarrassing, sticky, unenviable
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causing inconvenience“they arrived at an awkward time”
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Synonyms:
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inconvenient
not suited to your comfort, purpose or needs
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inconvenient
/ˈɔkwərd/
/ˈɔkwəd/
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