awkward

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: awk=ward

CIDE DICTIONARY

awkward, a. [Awk + -ward.].

•  Wanting dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments; not dexterous; without skill; clumsy; wanting ease, grace, or effectiveness in movement; ungraceful; as, he was awkward at a trick; an awkward boy.  [1913 Webster]

  "And dropped an awkward courtesy."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing.  [1913 Webster]

  "A long and awkward process."  [1913 Webster]

  "An awkward affair is one that has gone wrong, and is difficult to adjust."  [1913 Webster]
•  Perverse; adverse; untoward.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "O blind guides, which being of an awkward religion, do strain out a gnat, and swallow up a cancel."  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Ungainly; unhandy; clownish; lubberly; gawky; maladroit; bungling; inelegant; ungraceful; unbecoming.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

awkward, adj.
1 ill-adapted for use; causing difficulty in use.
2 clumsy or bungling.
3 a embarrassed (felt awkward about it). b embarrassing (an awkward situation).
4 difficult to deal with (an awkward customer).

Idiom

the awkward age adolescence.

Derivative

awkwardly adv. awkwardness n.

Etymology

obs. awk backhanded, untoward (ME f. ON afugr turned the wrong way) + -WARD

THESAURUS

awkward

Latinate, all thumbs, blankminded, blunderheaded, blundering, bombastic, boorish, bulky, bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, callow, careless, clownish, clumsy, clumsy-fisted, confused, contrary, cramped, crosswise, crushing, cumbersome, cumbrous, dangerous, delicate, difficult, discomfited, discommodious, disconcerted, disconcerting, disturbing, dumb, elephantine, embarrassed, embarrassing, empty, empty-headed, fingers all thumbs, forced, formal, fumbling, gauche, gawkish, gawky, graceless, green, groping, guinde, halting, ham-fisted, ham-handed, hazardous, heavy, heavy-handed, hulking, hulky, humiliating, ignorant, ill at ease, ill-chosen, impractical, inane, incommodious, inconvenient, inefficient, inelegant, inept, inexperienced, inexpert, inkhorn, innocent, know-nothing, labored, leaden, left-hand, left-handed, loutish, lubberly, lumbering, lumpish, lumpy, maladroit, massive, massy, mortifying, naive, nescient, oafish, out of place, perilous, perverse, pompous, ponderous, precarious, raw, rigid, risky, sensitive, sesquipedalian, shamefaced, simple, sloppy, splay, sticky, stiff, stilted, strange to, tentative, ticklish, touchy, tricky, troublesome, trying, turgid, unacquainted, unapprized, uncomfortable, uncomprehending, unconversant, uncouth, undexterous, uneasy, unenlightened, unfamiliar, unfortunate, ungainly, ungraceful, unhandy, unhappy, unilluminated, uninformed, uninitiated, unintelligent, unknowing, unmanageable, unpleasant, unposted, unripe, unskilled, unskillful, unsure, unversed, unwieldy, vacuous, wooden

ROGET THESAURUS

awkward

Inelegance

N inelegance, stiffness, unlettered Muse, barbarism, slang, solecism, mannerism, euphuism, fustian, cacophony, words that break the teeth, words that dislocate the jaw, marinism, inelegant, graceless, ungraceful, harsh, abrupt, dry, stiff, cramped, formal, guinde, forced, labored, artificial, mannered, ponderous, awkward, uncourtly, unpolished, turgid, affected, euphuistic, barbarous, uncouth, grotesque, rude, crude, halting, offensive to ears polite, Spoken Language.

Inexpedience

N inexpedience, inexpediency, undesirableness, undesirability, discommodity, impropriety, unfitness, inutility, disadvantage, inexpedient, undesirable, unadvisable, inadvisable, objectionable, inapt, ineligible, inadmissible, inconvenient, incommodious, discommodious, disadvantageous, inappropriate, unfit, ill-contrived, ill-advised, unsatisfactory, unprofitable, unsubservient, inopportune, out of place, in the wrong place, improper, unseemly, clumsy, awkward, cumbrous, cumbersome, lumbering, unwieldy, hulky, unmanageable, impedient, unnecessary, it will never do.

Unskillfulness

N unskillfulness, want of skill, incompetence, incompentency, inability, infelicity, indexterity, inexperience, disqualification, unproficiency, quackery, folly, stupidity indiscretion, thoughtlessness, sabotage, mismanagement, misconduct, impolicy, maladministration, misrule, misgovernment, misapplication, misdirection, misfeasance, petticoat government, absence of rule, rule of thumb, bungling, failure, screw loose: too many cooks, blunder, etourderie gaucherie, act of folly, balourdise, botch, botchery, bad job, sad work, sprat sent out to catch a whale, much ado about nothing, wild- goose chase, bungler, fool, unskillful, inexpert, bungling, awkward, clumsy, unhandy, lubberly, gauche, maladroit, left-handed, heavy-handed, slovenly, slatternly, gawky, adrift, at fault, inapt, unapt, inhabile, untractable, unteachable, giddy, inconsiderate, stupid inactive, incompetent, unqualified, disqualified, ill-qualified, unfit, quackish, raw, green, inexperienced, rusty, out of practice, unaccustomed, unused, untrained &c, uninitiated, unconversant, shiftless, unstatesmanlike, unadvised, ill-advised, misadvised, ill-devised, ill-imagined, ill-judged, ill-contrived, ill-conducted, unguided, misguided, misconducted, foolish, wild, infelicitous, penny wise and pound foolish, one's fingers being all thumbs, the right hand forgets its cunning, il se noyerait dans une goutte d'eau, incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim, out of the frying pan into the fire, non omnia possumus omnes.

Difficulty

N difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

Painfulness

N painfulness, trouble, care, trial, affliction, infliction, blow, stroke, burden, load, curse, bitter pill, bitter draught, waters of bitterness, annoyance, grievance, nuisance, vexation, mortification, sickener, bore, bother, pother, hot water, sea of troubles, hornet's nest, plague, pest, cancer, ulcer, sting, thorn, canker, scorpion, dagger, scourge, carking care, canker worm of care, mishap, misfortune, desagrement, esclandre, rub, source of irritation, source of annoyance, wound, open sore, sore subject, skeleton in the closet, thorn in the flesh, thorn in one's side, where the shoe pinches, gall and wormwood, sorry sight, heavy news, provocation, affront, head and front of one's offending, infestation, molestation, malignity, causing pain, hurting, hurtful, painful, dolorific, dolorous, unpleasant, unpleasing, displeasing, disagreeable, unpalatable, bitter, distasteful, uninviting, unwelcome, undesirable, undesired, obnoxious, unacceptable, unpopular, thankless, unsatisfactory, untoward, unlucky, uncomfortable, distressing, afflicting, afflictive, joyless, cheerless, comfortless, dismal, disheartening, depressing, depressive, dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous, woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable, sad, affecting, touching, pathetic, irritating, provoking, stinging, annoying, aggravating, mortifying, galling, unaccommodating, invidious, vexatious, troublesome, tiresome, irksome, wearisome, plaguing, plaguy, awkward, importunate, teasing, pestering, bothering, harassing, worrying, tormenting, carking, intolerable, insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unendurable, past bearing, not to be borne, not to be endured, more than flesh and blood can bear, enough to drive one mad, enough to provoke a saint, enough to make a parson swear, enough to gag a maggot, shocking, terrific, grim, appalling, crushing, dreadful, fearful, frightful, thrilling, tremendous, dire, heart-breaking, heart-rending, heart-wounding, heart-corroding, heart-sickening, harrowing, rending, odious, hateful, execrable, repulsive, repellent, abhorrent, horrid, horrible, horrific, horrifying, offensive, nauseous, nauseating, disgusting, sickening, revolting, nasty, loathsome, loathful, fulsome, vile, hideous, sharp, acute, sore, severe, grave, hard, harsh, cruel, biting, caustic, cutting, corroding, consuming, racking, excruciating, searching, grinding, grating, agonizing, envenomed, catheretic, pyrotic, ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, tragical, desolating, withering, burdensome, onerous, oppressive, cumbrous, cumbersome, painfully, with pain, deuced, Int, hinc illae lachrymae!, surgit amari aliquid, the place being too hot to hold one, the iron entering into the soul, he jests at scars that never felt a wound, I must be cruel only to be kind, what deep wounds ever closed without a scar?.

Ugliness

N ugliness, deformity, inelegance, acomia, disfigurement, want of symmetry, inconcinnity, distortion, squalor, forbidding countenance, vinegar aspect, hanging look, wry face, spretae injuria formae, eyesore, object, witch, hag, figure, sight, fright, monster, dog, woofer, pig, octopus, specter, scarecrow, harridan, satyr, toad, monkey, baboon, Caliban, Aesop, monstrum horrendum informe ingens cui lumen adempt, ugly, ugly as sin, ugly as a toad, ugly as a scarecrow, ugly as a dead monkey, plain, bald (unadorned), homely, ordinary, unornamental, inartistic, unsightly, unseemly, uncomely, unlovely, unshapely, sightless, seemless, not fit to be seen, unbeauteous, unbeautiful, beautiless, semibeautiful, shapeless, misshapen, misproportioned, monstrous, gaunt, dumpy, curtailed of its fair proportions, ill-made, ill- shaped, ill-proportioned, crooked, hard featured, hard visaged, ill-favored, hard-favored, evil-favored, ill-looking, unprepossessing, unattractive, uninviting, unpleasing, graceless, inelegant, ungraceful, ungainly, uncouth, stiff, rugged, rough, gross, rude, awkward, clumsy, slouching, rickety, gawky, lumping, lumpish, lumbering, hulky, hulking, unwieldy, squalid, haggard, grim, grim faced, grim visaged, grisly, ghastly, ghost like, death like, cadaverous, grewsome, gruesome, frightful, hideous, odious, uncanny, forbidding, repellant, repulsive, repugnant, grotesque, bizarre, grody, grody to the max, horrid, horrible, shocking, foul, dingy, gaudy, disfigured, discolored.

Vulgarity

N vulgarity, vulgarism, barbarism, Vandalism, Gothicism, mauvis gout, bad taste, gaucherie, awkwardness, want of tact, ill-breeding, courseness, indecorum, misbehavior, lowness, homeliness, low life, mauvais ton, rusticity, boorishness, brutality, rowdyism, blackguardism, ribaldry, slang, bad joke, mauvais plaisanterie, gaudiness, tawdriness, false ornament, finery, frippery, trickery, tinsel, gewgaw, clinquant, baroque, rococo, rough diamond, tomboy, hoyden, cub, unlicked cub, clown, Goth, Vandal, Boeotian, snob, cad, gent, parvenu, frump, dowdy, slattern, in bad taste vulgar, unrefined, coarse, indecorous, ribald, gross, unseemly, unbeseeming, unpresentable, contra bonos mores, ungraceful, dowdy, slovenly, ungenteel, shabby genteel, low, common, hoi polloi, uncourtly, uncivil, ill bred, ill mannered, underbred, ungentlemanly, ungentlemanlike, unladylike, unfeminine, wild, wild as an unbacked colt, untutored, unschooled (ignorant), unkempt, uncombed, untamed, unlicked, unpolished, uncouth, plebeian, incondite, heavy, rude, awkward, homely, homespun, home bred, provincial, countrified, rustic, boorish, clownish, savage, brutish, blackguard, rowdy, snobbish, barbarous, barbaric, Gothic, unclassical, doggerel, heathenish, tramontane, outlandish, uncultivated, Bohemian, obsolete, unfashionable, newfangled, odd, particular, affected, meretricious, extravagant, monstrous, horrid, shocking, gaudy, tawdry, overornamented, baroque, rococo, bedizened, tricked out, gingerbread, obtrusive.

Ridiculousness

N ridiculousness, comicality, oddity, extravagance, drollery, farce, comedy, burlesque, buffoonery, frippery, doggerel verses, absurdity, bombast, anticlimax, bathos, eccentricity, monstrosity, laughingstock, ridiculous, ludicrous, comical, droll, funny, laughable, pour rire, grotesque, farcical, odd, whimsical, whimsical as a dancing bear, fanciful, fantastic, queer, rum, quizzical, quaint, bizarre, screaming, eccentric, strange, outlandish, out of the way, baroque, weird, awkward, extravagant, outre, monstrous, preposterous, bombastic, inflated, stilted, burlesque, mock heroic, drollish, seriocomic, tragicomic, gimcrack, contemptible, doggerel, ironical, risible, risum teneatis amici, rideret Heraclitus, du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas.