Online English Dictionary

Online English Dictionary

awkward

Definition

awkward [adj]

1. causing inconvenience; "they arrived at an awkward time"

2. 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"

3. difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape; "an awkward bundle to carry"; "a load of bunglesome paraphernalia"; "clumsy wooden shoes"; "the cello, a rather ungainly instrument for a girl"

4. not elegant or graceful in expression; "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?"

5. hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment; "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

6. socially uncomfortable; unsure and constrained in manner; "awkward and reserved at parties"; "ill at ease among eddies of people he didn′t know"; "was always uneasy with strangers"

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Synonyms

adj
embarrassing, inconvenient, uncomfortable, unpleasant, delicate, tricky, problematical, problematic, troublesome

clumsy, ungainly, gauche, gawky, stiff, unskilful, ungraceful, fiddly, unwieldly, cumbersome

Antonyms

adj
graceful

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