awkwardness

English

Alternative forms

• aukwardness (obsolete)

Etymology

From awkward +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

awkwardness (usually uncountable, plural awkwardnesses)

1. The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness.
   • 1849, Minutes of the committee of council on education, page 82:

     […] instead of the joyous voices of his playfellows he hears the rough commands of an unindulgent master or a scolding mistress; — he is continually reproached for his awkwardness and timidity, and reminded of his pauper origin.

2. The quality of an embarrassing situation.

Synonyms

• clunkiness
• clumsiness
• discomfiture
• ineptness, ineptitude
• inelegance

Derived terms

• awkwardnessful

Related terms

• awkwardly

Translations

the state or quality of being awkward

• Bulgarian: несръчност (bg) (nesrǎčnost), непохватност (bg) (nepohvatnost)
• Dutch: onbeholpenheid (nl) f, onhandigheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: malgracieco
• French: maladresse (fr) f
• German: Unbeholfenheit (de) f, Umständlichkeit f, Ungeschicklichkeit (de) f, Plumpheit (de) f
• Irish: liopastacht f, amlógacht f, amlóireacht f, ainnise (ga) f
• Spanish: torpeza (es)
• Tagalog: tungal, pagkatungal, katungalan

the quality of an embarrassing situation

• German: Peinlichkeit (de) f
• Portuguese: constrangimento (pt) m