awkward

awk·ward  (ôkwrd)

adj.

1. Not graceful; ungainly.

2.

a. Not dexterous; clumsy.

b. Clumsily or unskillfully performed: The opera was marred by an awkward aria.

3.

a. Difficult to handle or manage: an awkward bundle to carry.

b. Difficult to effect; uncomfortable: an awkward pose.

4.

a. Marked by or causing embarrassment or discomfort: an awkward remark; an awkward silence.

b. Requiring great tact, ingenuity, skill, and discretion: An awkward situation arose during the peace talks.

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[Middle English awkeward, in the wrong way : awke, wrong (from Old Norse öfugr, backward; see apo- in Indo-European roots) + -ward, -ward.]

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awkward·ly adv.

awkward·ness n.

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awkward [ˈɔːkwəd]

adj

1. lacking dexterity, proficiency, or skill; clumsy; inept the new recruits were awkward in their exercises

2. ungainly or inelegant in movements or posture despite a great deal of practice she remained an awkward dancer

3. unwieldy; difficult to use an awkward implement

4. embarrassing an awkward moment

5. embarrassed he felt awkward about leaving

6. difficult to deal with; requiring tact an awkward situation an awkward customer

7. deliberately uncooperative or unhelpful he could help but he is being awkward

8. dangerous or difficult an awkward ascent of the ridge

9. Obsolete perverse

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

awkwardly  adv

awkwardness  n

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awkward - Comes from Old Norse awk, "perverse," and weard, "in the direction of," i.e. "turned back upon itself" or "turned backward."

See also related terms for perverse.

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	awkward - causing inconvenience; "they arrived at an awkward time" inconvenient - not suited to your comfort, purpose or needs; "it is inconvenient not to have a telephone in the kitchen"; "the back hall is an inconvenient place for the telephone"
	2.	awkward - 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" maladroit - not adroit; "a maladroit movement of his hand caused the car to swerve"; "a maladroit translation"; "maladroit propaganda" ugly - displeasing to the senses; "an ugly face"; "ugly furniture" graceful - characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution
	3.	awkward - 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" bunglesome, ungainly, clumsy unmanageable, unwieldy - difficult to use or handle or manage because of size or weight or shape; "we set about towing the unwieldy structure into the shelter"; "almost dropped the unwieldy parcel"
	4.	awkward - 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?" ill-chosen, inapt, inept, clumsy, cumbersome infelicitous - not appropriate in application; defective; "an infelicitous remark"; "infelicitous phrasing"; "the infelicitous typesetting was due to illegible copy"
	5.	awkward - 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 to save for the climax of the campaign" embarrassing, unenviable, sticky difficult, hard - not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure; "a difficult task"; "nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access"; "difficult times"; "why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?"
	6.	awkward - 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" ill at ease, uneasy uncomfortable - conducive to or feeling mental discomfort; "this kind of life can prove disruptive and uncomfortable"; "the uncomfortable truth"; "grew uncomfortable beneath his appraising eye"; "an uncomfortable way of surprising me just when I felt surest"; "the teacher's presence at the conference made the child very uncomfortable"

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awkward

adjective

1. embarrassing, difficult, compromising, sensitive, embarrassed, painful, distressing, delicate, uncomfortable, tricky, trying, humiliating, unpleasant, sticky (informal), troublesome, perplexing, disconcerting, inconvenient, thorny, untimely, ill at ease, discomfiting, ticklish, inopportune, toe-curling (slang), cringeworthy (Brit. informal) There was an awkward moment when people had to decide where to stand.
embarrassing comfortable, pleasant

2. inconvenient, difficult, troublesome, cumbersome, unwieldy, unmanageable, clunky (informal), unhandy It was heavy enough to make it awkward to carry.
inconvenient easy, convenient, handy

3. clumsy, stiff, rude, blundering, coarse, bungling, lumbering, inept, unskilled, bumbling, unwieldy, ponderous, ungainly, gauche, gawky, uncouth, unrefined, artless, inelegant, uncoordinated, graceless, cack-handed (informal), unpolished, clownish, oafish, inexpert, maladroit, ill-bred, all thumbs, ungraceful, skill-less, unskilful, butterfingered (informal), unhandy, ham-fisted or ham-handed (informal) She made an awkward gesture with her hands.
clumsy graceful, skilful, adept, adroit, dexterous

4. uncooperative, trying, difficult, annoying, unpredictable, unreasonable, stubborn, troublesome, perverse, prickly, exasperating, irritable, intractable, vexing, unhelpful, touchy, obstinate, obstructive, bloody-minded (Brit. informal), chippy (informal), vexatious, hard to handle, disobliging She's got to an age where she's being awkward.

5. embarrassed, nervous, uncomfortable, uneasy, self-conscious He was rather awkward with his godson.

Translations

awkward [ˈɔːkwəd] ADJ

1. (= inconvenient, difficult) [moment, time] → malo; [shape] → incómodo, poco práctico; [corner] → peligroso
have I called at an awkward moment? → ¿he llamado en mal momento?
this scandal comes at an awkward moment for the government → este escándalo llega en un momento difícil or en un mal momento para el gobierno
to be at an awkward age → estar en una edad difícil
he's being awkward about it → está poniendo inconvenientes
he's an awkward customer → es un tipo difícil, es un sujeto de cuidado
Thursday is awkward for me → el jueves no me viene bien
to make things awkward for sb → poner las cosas difíciles a algn, crear dificultades a algn
it would be awkward to postpone my trip again → sería difícil volver a aplazar mi viaje
it's not far, but it's awkward to get to by public transport → no está lejos, pero es complicado llegar en transporte público
it's very awkward to carry → es muy difícil de llevar

2. (= embarrassing, uncomfortable) [silence] → embarazoso; [problem, question] → delicado, difícil; [situation] → delicado, violento; [matter, subject] → delicado
to feel awkward → sentirse incómodo
he had always felt awkward with Clara → siempre se había sentido incómodo con Clara → nunca se había sentido a gusto con Clara
I felt awkward about asking her for a rise → me resultaba violento pedirle un aumento de sueldo
there was an awkward moment when → hubo un momento violento or embarazoso cuando ...
to put sb in an awkward position → poner a algn en una situación embarazosa or delicada, poner a algn en un compromiso

3. (= clumsy) [person, gesture, movement] → torpe; [phrasing] → poco elegante, torpe
to sleep in an awkward position → dormir en mala posición

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awkward [ˈɔːkwə^rd] adj

(= clumsy) [person, gesture] → gauche, maladroit(e)
awkward to carry → peu pratique à porter

(= inconvenient, difficult) [time] → peu opportun(e); [age] → ingrat(e)
at an awkward time → à un moment peu opportun
he's at an awkward age → il est dans l'âge ingrat
to be awkward for sb to do sth
It's a bit awkward for me to come and see you → Ce n'est pas très pratique pour moi de venir vous voir.

(= embarrassing) [question, situation] → gênant(e)
an awkward situation → une situation délicate

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awkward

adj

(= difficult) → schwierig; time, moment, angle, shape → ungünstig; 4 o’clock is a bit awkward (for me) → 4 Uhr ist ein bisschen ungünstig or schlecht (inf) → (für mich); to make things awkward for somebody → jdm Schwierigkeiten machen; awkward customer → übler Bursche (inf)

(= embarrassing) → peinlich

(= embarrassed) → verlegen; (= shamefaced) → betreten; silence → betreten; I was at an awkward age → ich war in einem schwierigen Alter; I feel awkward about that → das ist mir unangenehm; I feel awkward about doing that → es ist mir unangenehm, das zu tun; to feel awkward in somebody’s company → sich in jds Gesellschaft (dat) → nicht wohlfühlen; I felt awkward when I had to … → es war mir unangenehm or peinlich, als ich … musste

(= clumsy) person, movement, style → unbeholfen

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awkward [ˈɔːkwəd] adj

a. (difficult, problem, question, situation, task) → delicato/a, difficile; (silence) → imbarazzante (Aut) (corner) → brutto/a; (inconvenient) → scomodo/a; (time, moment) → poco opportuno/a; (tool) → poco maneggevole, scomodo/a; (shape) → difficile
you've caught me at an awkward time → mi hai pescato in un momento poco opportuno
Friday is awkward for me → venerdì mi riesce scomodo
she's being awkward about it → sta rendendo la cosa un po' difficile
he's an awkward customer → è un tipo difficile

b. (clumsy, person) → goffo/a; (gesture, movement) → impacciato/a; (style, phrasing) → contorto/a
the awkward age → l'età difficile

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awkward

adj awkward [ˈoːkwəd]

1 not graceful or elegant an awkward movement. onbeholpe غَير بارِع، غَير لَبِق، غَير رَشيق тромав neobratný akavet; kejtet ungeschickt αδέξιος, άγαρμπος patoso, desgarbado, torpe kohmakas بدقواره؛ ناجور kömpelö maladroit מְגוּשָׁם बेढंगा nezgodan esetlen kikuk, canggung, janggal klunnalegur goffo ぎこちない 서투른 negrabus, nerangus neveikls; lempīgs janggal onhandig klosset, keitet niezręczny, niezgrabny desajeitado stângaci неуклюжий neobratný, nemotorný neroden nezgodan klumpig, besvärlig งุ่มง่าม hantal, kaba 笨拙的 незграбний بھدا ، بھونڈا vụng về 笨拙的

2 difficult or causing difficulty, embarrassment etc an awkward question; an awkward silence; His cut is in an awkward place. lastig حَرِج، مُحْرِج، مُربِك неудобен nevhodný, trapný, nepříjemný vanskelig; pinlig; ubekvem peinlich που προκαλεί αμηχανία ή δυσκολία, ενοχλητικός difícil, delicado, peliagudo piinlik خجول و کمرو؛ ناجور pulmallinen gênant לֹא נוֹח, קָשֶה कष्टदायक čudan kínos, kényes menyulitkan vandræðalegur imbarazzante, inopportuno 具合の悪い 다루기 힘든 nemalonus, nejaukus, nepatogus neērts; neveikls kekok lastig vanskelig, pinlig, ubekvem krępujący difícil incomod; stânjenitor; jenant неловкий; неудобный nevhodný, trápny mučen neprijatan obehaglig, pinsam, besvärlig ที่น่าอึดอัดใจ can sıkıcı, zor, uygunsuz, biçimsiz 棘手的，尷尬的 незручний دشوار ، تکیف دہ lúng túng/ ngượng nghịu 难处理的

adv awkwardly

lastig بِصورَة مُربِكَه неудобно neobratně; nevhodně, trapně vanskeligt; pinligt; kejtet ungeschickt αδέξια, ενοχλητικά desgarbadamente kohmakalt بطور زشت؛ ناشیانه kömpelösti maladroitement בְּצוּרָה מְגוּשֶמֶת कष्टकर रूप से nezgodno ügyetlenül secara kikuk vandræðalega; klaufalega in maniera inopportuna ぎこちなく 서투르게, 어색하게 negrabiai neveikli; neērti dengan kekoknya onhandig ubekvemt, pinlig, klosset niezręcznie desajeitadamente stângaci неуклюже; неловко nešikovne nerodno nezgodno besvärligt, tafatt, klumpigt อย่างน่าอึดอัดใจ hantalca, beceriksizce, acemice 笨拙地 незграбно; ніяково بے ڈھب انداز سے lúng túng 笨拙地

n awkwardness

lastigheid إرباك، إحراج неудобство neobratnost; trapná situace kejtethed die Ungeschicklichkeit αδεξιότητα, δυσχέρεια dificultad; torpeza kohmakus زشتی؛ ناراحتی kömpelyys maladresse סִרְבּוּל कष्ट nezgodnost ügyetlenség sikap kikuk klaufaskapur goffaggine; inopportunità ぎこちなさ 꼴사나움, 어색함 negrabumas, nerangumas neveiklība; neērtums kekekokan onhandigheid klossethet niezręczność, niezdarność falta de jeito stângăcie неуклюжесть; неловкость neobratnosť, nemotornosť nerodnost nelagodnost tafatthet ความอึดอัดใจ hantallık, beceriksizlik 笨拙 незграбність; ніяковість بے ڈھنگا پن sự vụng về 笨拙

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awkward → أخْرَق nemotorný akavet ungünstig αδέξιος incómodo kömpelö gauche nespretan maldestro 不器用な 서투른 onhandig tafatt niezgrabny desajeitado неуклюжий generad งุ่มง่าม beceriksiz vụng về 笨拙的