Crossword clues for awkwardness
awkwardness
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Awkward \Awk"ward\ ([add]k"we[~e]rd), a. [Awk + -ward.]
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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. -
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. -
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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1704, "lack of grace," from awkward + -ness. Meaning "physical clumsiness" is attested from c.1770; that of "social embarrassment" is from 1788.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness. 2 The quality of an embarrassing situation.
WordNet
n. unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training [syn: clumsiness, ineptness, ineptitude, maladroitness, slowness]
the quality of an embarrassing situation; "he sensed the awkwardness of his proposal" [syn: nuisance value]
the carriage of someone whose movements and posture are ungainly or inelegant [syn: clumsiness] [ant: gracefulness]
the inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment) [syn: clumsiness, gracelessness, stiffness]
trouble in carrying or managing caused by bulk or shape; "the movers cursed the unwieldiness of the big piano" [syn: cumbersomeness, unwieldiness]
Usage examples of "awkwardness".
After years of awkwardness, he was finally becoming an impressive young man.
There was a quality to its movement, a loose awkwardness, that made his flesh crawl.
Michael said, feeling none of the hesitance or awkwardness he would have once experienced on naming his occupation, his obsession.
And she had found an unwelcome awkwardness in herself when in their company.
Tucker shot to his feet, with none of the ungainly awkwardness that usually marked his movements.
I q CHAPTER 9 With a touching awkwardness, Tucker maneuvered around the coffee table and stopped near the center of the long sofa, then stood helpless for a moment, trying to figure out how to sit down without bending his knee.
With a trace of awkwardness, he ran a hand over a cuiwed arm that jutted from its ornate headboard.
As all the women burst into sudden laughter at the susceptibility of men, the awkwardness dispersed.
Her oddity, her awkwardness, and her self-conceit gave me the desire to know her better, and I began to dance attendance upon her.
Blake practiced with this weapon it dawned upon him that his knowledge of fencing might be put to advantage should the necessity arise, to the end that his awkwardness with the buckler should be outweighed by his nicer defensive handling of his sword and his offensive improved by the judicious use of the point, against which they had developed little or no defense.
But it does seem highly coincidental that he would use that turn of phrase, given the awkwardness of other parts of his message.
I could not help being amused at his awkwardness, but I had not yet seen the best part of the comedy.
She kissed me, nevertheless, with much grace, and though I received the compliment with a good deal of awkwardness I was so delighted, that I could not help buying her a little ring from a toy merchant in the theatre.
The Crucian pilots displayed the raggedness one might expect of newbies, but little of the awkwardness and none of the hesitancy.
However, I resolutely determined to conquer my awkwardness, and twenty times, to the peril of my spine, did I fall down upon the ice.