awkward is widely applicable and may suggest unhandiness, inconvenience, lack of muscular control, embarrassment, or lack of tact.
periods of awkward silence
clumsy implies stiffness and heaviness and so may connote inflexibility, unwieldiness, or lack of ordinary skill.
a clumsy mechanic
maladroit suggests a tendency to create awkward situations.
a maladroit politician
inept often implies complete failure or inadequacy.
a hopelessly inept defense attorney
gauche implies the effects of shyness, inexperience, or ill breeding.
felt gauche and unsophisticated at formal parties
Example Sentences
I was electrified by what I learned in college. Still socially awkward, I had the bad habit of stopping strangers in the street to pour my heart out about the latest marvel I had learned. Jaron Lanier, Curious Minds, (2004) 2005Greene must have known that such men would not spill the beans about his irregular life or ask awkward questions, though Burgess famously teased him for being … a poseur, and was banished. Paul Theroux, New York Times Book Review, 17 Oct. 2004On the ground, vultures are hunched and awkward bundles of feathers, but in the air, where I watch them during much of the day, they are magnificent graceful soarers.Words From the Land, Stephen Trimble, editor, 1988 She is awkward at dancing. He had large feet and his walk was awkward and ungainly. The story contained some awkward writing. She is an awkward writer. The machine is very awkward to operate. I often find myself in awkward situations. He was put in the awkward position of having to write the memo. There was an awkward pause in the conversation. He feels awkward with strangers. See More
Recent Examples on the WebMorgen also includes archival clips of Bowie appearing on talk shows both in the States and the U.K., and, in his shy, awkward way, explaining his ideas about gender fluidity, long before there was an accepted term for it. Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 16 Sep. 2022 This kind of series used to have to rely on awkward reenactments. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 16 Sep. 2022 Adapted from an Alice Hoffman novel of the same name, reviewers have called it out for awkward tonal shifts, but as anyone who has actually read an Alice Hoffman book already knows that's a feature, not a bug. Debby Wolfinsohn, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2022 That left him in the awkward position on Wednesday. Josh Boak And Zeke Miller, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2022 And the teaming up of the former vice president and Bolduc may have potentially led to some awkward conversation. Paul Steinhauser, Fox News, 15 Sep. 2022 And Succession took home Best Drama ending the show with this awkward jab at another succession that took place across the pond. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 14 Sep. 2022 The move by Graham, on a day when Republicans had hoped to focus on poor inflation numbers, put some of his colleagues in a awkward political position. Gabe Ferris, ABC News, 13 Sep. 2022 With someone guiding the analysis, there’s less potential for awkward silences. Emma Sarappo, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English awkeward in the wrong direction, from awke turned the wrong way, from Old Norse ǫfugr; akin to Old High German abuh turned the wrong way