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What is "awkward"

Crossword clues for awkward

awkward
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
awkward
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a difficult/an awkward stage
▪ He was 13 and going through that awkward stage.
a difficult/awkward age (=used mainly about the time when people are teenagers)
▪ 13 – 16 is often a difficult age.
a difficult/awkward position
▪ I was in the difficult position of having to choose between them.
an awkward pause
▪ After an awkward pause, Ray began to answer my question.
an awkward position
▪ My foot was in an awkward position.
an awkward question (=one that someone does not want to answer)
▪ How can we keep the press from asking awkward questions?
an awkward/uncomfortable/embarrassed silence
▪ ‘Fred tells me you like books,’ Steve said, after an awkward silence.
find yourself in a similar/awkward etc position
▪ The refugee organizations now found themselves in a difficult position.
put/place sb in a good/awkward etc position
▪ I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward position.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
more
▪ A more awkward business, ours here.
▪ In fact, the Newtonian problem is a much more awkward one than that put forward by Fredkin and Toffoli.
▪ The corner is awkward, much more awkward than was recognised when, in 1965, Professor Robinson coined the phrase.
▪ Her other inconsistencies presaged more awkward problems.
▪ His pace slowed, his rhythm became even more awkward.
▪ In fact, I found the interface more awkward to use than WordStar's.
▪ It could well make life more awkward for ministers.
▪ As it was, the prince's age could hardly have been more awkward.
most
▪ The most awkward of these are the manager's expenses when travelling at the request and on behalf of the artist.
▪ Ingrid was the one who found it most awkward.
▪ They're determined to expose your pitiful lack of knowledge at the most awkward moments.
▪ And I don't think I need point out that I am in the most awkward situation of all.
▪ Not if he arranged it at the most awkward time of the year? a little voice rejoined.
▪ They remember you at your most awkward and unformed and they take delight in reminding you of it.
▪ Some of the most awkward times can be social situations both within and outside of work.
rather
▪ She was long-legged and rather awkward and didn't do things quickly even when she got started!
▪ It is rather awkward to get your fingers into, so scrap it if you can't use it.
▪ The few shoppers who are searching for soap powder feel rather awkward.
▪ They had something rather awkward and difficult to tell her.
▪ I found these rather awkward to fit.
really
▪ Before things could get really awkward, there was a movement from the other end of the hall.
▪ I realize my generation has made some really awkward attempts to change that equation.
▪ Awkward questions Sometimes even well-meaning interviewers will throw you a really awkward question.
▪ At best it was pointless; at worst it could be really awkward.
slightly
▪ Captain Duro had become fond of this tall, slightly awkward girl.
▪ In it Amelia gave a slightly awkward interview.
▪ In a slightly awkward movement, he shows her out the door.
▪ He even felt slightly awkward sitting out with her in a public place having coffee.
▪ He felt slightly awkward, as though he were in a strange woman's room.
so
▪ Why am I being so awkward?
▪ What was he so awkward about?
▪ He was an exuberant conversationalist, and I surrendered in silence to his narratives, feeling so awkward about presenting my own.
too
▪ Her limbs were splayed at angles too awkward for comfort.
▪ It looked bulky, but was well designed, and not too awkward to wear.
▪ Maybe she felt it was too awkward?
very
▪ The Department can be very awkward at times.
▪ It showed a tumor in the frontal lobe in a very awkward place: close to the motor strip and language areas.
▪ George stood in the middle of the two pairs, feeling very awkward and uncomfortable.
▪ But I found the tessitura very awkward here and there.
▪ Things became very awkward between us afterwards and, as a result, I had to quit my job.
▪ This was not only humiliating but also very awkward for Baldwin.
▪ The two officers, using false documents, attempted to leave New Zealand but were caught.It was a very awkward situation.
▪ It would be very awkward if she called at the house and Miss Watson were just about to come over.
■ NOUN
age
▪ He was approaching the awkward age in a professional golfer's career.
angle
▪ Soldiers were leaning against the walls, their guns slung at awkward angles as they smoked and chatted.
▪ And you may find adjustable soil and drain elbows, useful for awkward angles.
▪ The Braun Oral-B Plaque Remover has tiny round-ended bristles that clean every awkward angle of your teeth.
fact
▪ It is possible, though, to make too much of this undoubtedly awkward fact.
▪ At this point an awkward fact will become manifest.
▪ It is usually possible, too, to live with awkward facts as anomalies awaiting further explanation.
moment
▪ But at this awkward moment, Aurangzeb suddenly recovered.
▪ Ask a question, especially if an awkward moment is coming on.
▪ Madame Czechowska felt embarrassed and it was Zborowski who coped with the awkward moment.
▪ It was a painful, awkward moment.
▪ The gradualists say this is an awkward moment, and they are right: it always is.
▪ They're determined to expose your pitiful lack of knowledge at the most awkward moments.
▪ In the campaign itself there was one awkward moment and that was on the issue of private health.
▪ Economic difficulties are foreclosing on Mr Lawson at an awkward moment for the Government.
pause
▪ His eyebrows rose slightly at her scarcely hidden hostility, and there was an awkward pause.
▪ An awkward pause swelled in the room.
position
▪ This is not a good idea as it puts the candidate in the awkward position of not knowing how to address you.
▪ She watched him assume the awkward position.
▪ Check, though, that she isn't sleeping in an awkward position, which may sometimes cause the problem.
▪ Katz put Ford in an incredibly awkward position as well.
▪ The porter was expecting them and let Maxim park in an awkward position on the forecourt pavement.
▪ This leaves Colonial Williamsburg in an awkward position.
▪ The affected fish had previously been swimming on its head and it spine had become deformed due to its awkward position.
▪ You can lose your friends if you put them in the awkward position of trying to get business for you.
question
▪ Don't be afraid to ask awkward questions.
▪ Missile defence has a political momentum that makes a supposedly awkward question such as whether it really works pale almost into irrelevance.
▪ Overfamiliarity at this stage also makes asking awkward questions more difficult.
▪ The extra thirty days for a successful crossing raised some awkward questions.
▪ To have assumed otherwise would have been to raise a number of awkward questions.
▪ My knowledge of history and myself made me ask awkward questions.
▪ He's asking awkward questions, he's probably a spy.
▪ Maybe have a walk down the fence line to consider our position and prepare ourselves for awkward questions.
shape
▪ This simplifies fitting around awkward shapes. 2 Lay the vinyl in place with surplus curling up the wall.
▪ You may also want to tile awkward shapes such as the window recesses, or things like bath surrounds.
▪ Any child who is encouraged to explore these aspects will learn the awkward shapes of words quite naturally.
silence
▪ An awkward silence fell between them.
▪ When we got to the restaurant, there was an awkward silence as I took out my tape recorder.
▪ There was another awkward silence, broken by the laughter from the bar.
▪ Spider said after an awkward silence.
▪ There was an awkward silence which Maidstone might have broken with some amiable remark to save Sandison's face.
▪ An awkward silence would do them both good.
▪ If Jack had been at all concerned that his impulsive gesture would result in an awkward silence he need not have worried.
▪ She figured the awkward silence was partly the result of people believing that only big topics were worthy of being discussed.
situation
▪ He had good taste and was most helpful in extricating one from awkward situations.
▪ He could already smell the awkward situations.
▪ And with Superstyle Twin Track, a valance rail allows you to add a little extra style even in those awkward situations.
▪ Plenty of yuks ensue as she struggles with the awkward situation.
▪ Winterburn almost put the ball into his own net from Milligan's cross, O'Leary recovering an awkward situation.
▪ Suddenly the boss found himself in an awkward situation.
▪ And I don't think I need point out that I am in the most awkward situation of all.
▪ Some call it treason; others tell them to be quiet and not make an awkward situation worse.
time
▪ Even so, this shift in thinking is taking place at an awkward time.
▪ So we had an awkward time.
▪ There were awkward times as well as good times, and subjects on which we could never agree.
▪ The incident came at an awkward time, preceding by a few days a visit by the Chief Rabbi.
▪ Not if he arranged it at the most awkward time of the year? a little voice rejoined.
▪ Some of the most awkward times can be social situations both within and outside of work.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
awkward/tricky/tough etc customer
▪ A tough customer, a man to be reckoned with.
▪ But he'd take on some one like Glenda Grower, who's a much tougher customer.
▪ But the tough treatment was only for tough customers.
▪ He's overcome some genuinely tough customers, but Gimenez was abject.
▪ He looks a tough customer to deal with.
▪ The next, you're making speeches to the wind. Tricky customers, ordinary people.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ an awkward silence
▪ an awkward teenager
▪ Bud turned round and gave an awkward wave out of the car window.
▪ Carrie laughed out loud, and there was an awkward silence.
▪ Do you have to be so awkward about everything?
▪ For one awkward moment I thought I had said something terribly wrong.
▪ Getting in and out of the water is awkward when you're wearing flippers.
▪ He's at an age when kids start asking awkward questions - like 'Where do babies come from?'
▪ I'm sorry, have I called at an awkward time?
▪ I didn't know anyone at the party, and I felt really awkward at first.
▪ It was really awkward, because she and Rachel don't get along.
▪ Seals are awkward on land, but graceful in the water.
▪ She felt awkward in her high-heeled shoes.
▪ the awkward wording of the letter
▪ The camera is awkward to use.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ If Jack had been at all concerned that his impulsive gesture would result in an awkward silence he need not have worried.
▪ She may appear stiff and perhaps awkward.
▪ The Department can be very awkward at times.
▪ This, with his stupid loyalty and his awkward maleness, she found touching.
▪ Whilst the others joked, drank and flirted, they would sit in awkward seriousness.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Awkward

Awkward \Awk"ward\ ([add]k"we[~e]rd), a. [Awk + -ward.]

  1. 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.

    And dropped an awkward courtesy.
    --Dryden.

  2. Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing.

    A long and awkward process.
    --Macaulay.

    An awkward affair is one that has gone wrong, and is difficult to adjust.
    --C. J. Smith.

  3. Perverse; adverse; untoward. [Obs.] ``Awkward casualties.'' ``Awkward wind.''
    --Shak.

    O blind guides, which being of an awkward religion, do strain out a gnat, and swallow up a cancel.
    --Udall.

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

    Usage: Awkward, Clumsy, Uncouth. Awkward has a special reference to outward deportment. A man is clumsy in his whole person, he is awkward in his gait and the movement of his limbs. Clumsiness is seen at the first view. Awkwardness is discovered only when a person begins to move. Hence the expressions, a clumsy appearance, and an awkward manner. When we speak figuratively of an awkward excuse, we think of a lack of ease and grace in making it; when we speak of a clumsy excuse, we think of the whole thing as coarse and stupid. We apply the term uncouth most frequently to that which results from the lack of instruction or training; as, uncouth manners; uncouth language. [1913 Webster] -- Awk"ward*ly ([add]k"we[~e]rd*l[y^]), adv. -- Awk"ward*ness, n.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
awkward

mid-14c., "in the wrong direction," from awk "back-handed" + adverbial suffix -weard (see -ward). Meaning "clumsy" first recorded 1520s. Related: Awkwardly. Other formations from awk, none of them surviving, were awky, awkly, awkness.

Wiktionary
awkward

a. 1 Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments 2 Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing 3 Lacking social skills, or uncomfortable with social interaction 4 perverse; adverse; difficult to handle adv. (context obsolete English) In a backwards direction.

Related phrases:
WordNet
awkward

  1. adj. 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" [ant: 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" [syn: 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?" [syn: clumsy, cumbersome, inapt, inept, ill-chosen]

  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" [syn: embarrassing, sticky, unenviable]

  6. not at ease socially; 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" [syn: ill at ease(p), uneasy]

Wikipedia
Awkward (TV series)

Awkward is an American teen comedy series created by Lauren Iungerich for MTV. The show's central character is Jenna Hamilton ( Ashley Rickards), a Palos Verdes, California, teenager who struggles with her identity, especially after an accident is misconstrued as a suicide attempt.

The series premiered on July 19, 2011. MTV renewed the series for a second season on August 24, 2011. The second season premiered on June 28, 2012 at 10:30 p.m. Awkward was officially renewed for a third season with an order of 20 episodes on July 25, 2012, which began airing on April 16, 2013 at 10:00pm. On June 26, 2013, it was announced that the show's creator Lauren Iungerich would be exiting the show after production of season three concludes on June 27, 2013. The rest of the show's third season began airing on October 22, 2013.

MTV renewed the series for a fourth season on August 5, 2013, that premiered on April 15, 2014 with new showrunners, Chris Alberghini and Mike Chessler, to replace creator and former showrunner, Lauren Iungerich.

Awkward first season was generally well-received with television critics praising the show's realism and writing as well as its central character, and was included in various critics' top ten lists. The show also earned several award nominations, winning one Teen Choice Award and one People's Choice Award.

On October 8, 2014, Awkward was renewed for a fifth and final season, which premiered on August 31, 2015. The mid-season finale aired on November 9, 2015; when the show returned in 2016, the story picked up during the summer after the characters' freshman year of college. The second half of Season 5 premiered on March 15, 2016. Producer Chris Alberghini said that there could possibly be a season 6 if MTV decides and that there are more stories to tell. Most cast members have agreed that they would happily return if there is a season 6, and told fans to tell MTV if they want more seasons.

Awkward (album)

Awkward is the first studio album by British hip hop musician Ty. It was released on Big Dada in 2001.

Awkward

Awkward may refer to:

  • Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with oneself
  • Awkward (TV series), an American teen comedy series
  • Awkward (album), a 2001 album by Ty
  • Awkward, a 1999 graphic novel by Ariel Schrag
  • Awkward, a 2015 graphic novel by Svetlana Chmakova
  • "Awkward", a song by The Cells from We Can Replace You
  • "Awkward", a song by San Cisco
  • "Awkward", a song by Tyler, the Creator from Wolf
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "awkward".

The secrecy surrounding his operations meant that he must keep it aboard, since only in his cabin was the money safe from awkward questions.

Having specialists who devote their entire time and attention to the study of these diseases, we are able to relieve and cure a large number painlessly and speedily, in which the awkward manipulations of physicians or surgeons, whose hands, untrained by constant and skillful use, not only fail to effect any benefit, but set up new, or aggravate existing, disease.

The man was too awkward aiming, but he went instantly graceful when Rambo shot him, smoothly clutching his right shoulder, spinning easily, toppling perfectly over the bicycle next to the tool shed, and then he was awkward again as the bicycle gave way under him and the two jumbled to the ground in a tinny jangle of chain and spokes.

He waved to the others to begin the awkward task of taking the litter down the staircase as Ancar stepped back to give them room.

But the new bell tower looked awkward near the fine, late Roman concrete, marble, and brick basilican edifice.

Commander bn Bem bowed before him as Kirk, Spock, and McCoy did their awkward best to imitate the gesture.

But now I nixed it, because even with its bipod folded forward the gun was awkward to carry if you intended to be moving fast and before the hour was out I intended to be moving very fast.

I was about to do my usual number on my ex, but I thought it might be awkward for my host, since he too was a bumbo, albeit not as flamboyantly.

Squire, agreeing with Cicely that Maria should at least thank the gentleman, said that although he could not yet understand what had happened or what had not happened, he was naturally indebted to the Scarecrow for what he had done, but, damme, he was placed in such an awkward position.

Jessamy had descended from the landaulet, and, with an awkward gallantry, helped her to climb down from her seat, when she expressed her intention to enjoy a comfortable cose with his sisters.

But his hands felt wooden and awkward, daunted by the sheer weight of her innocence.

She felt less awkward talking about Davina than she had done for a long time.

Though Reyes felt awkward when using ranks to ask Desai over to his quarters for dinner, the strict observance of protocol had already averted a few potential embarrassments for them both.

A pretty dense film of detergent had been blown back and it was a particularly awkward job to examine it without destroying any evidence there might be.

Despite the fact that he had spent every waking moment of the past few days hoping desperately that Dumbledore would indeed come to fetch him, Harry felt distinctly awkward as they set off down Privet Drive together.