awkward meaning and definition

AWKWARD adjective

Definition of awkward (adjective)

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"
   • antonym: graceful
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"
   • synonyms: bunglesome, clumsy, ungainly
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?"
   • synonyms: clumsy, cumbersome, ill-chosen, inapt, inept
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 to save for the climax of the campaign"
   • synonyms: embarrassing, sticky, unenviable
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"
   • synonyms: ill at ease, uneasy