as in clumsy
having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner
the stiff, gawky gait of a newborn colt
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of gawky
Kitty Ruskin, TIME, 5 Aug. 2024
Actors are hired to play gawky scientists during interviews.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 12 July 2024
Puberty and the ‘gawky brain’ In the film, Riley is 13-years-old, still playing hockey, and preparing for high school.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 12 June 2024
The way Dunst scrunches her eyebrows and speaks in her highest register, never abandoning her character’s gawky sincerity, is a comedic gold mine.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for gawky 
Adjective
Even the most lighthearted TikToks reflected a disgust in men who appear awkward, gawky, or fragile.
—Kitty Ruskin, TIME, 5 Aug. 2024
Actors are hired to play gawky scientists during interviews.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 12 July 2024
Puberty and the ‘gawky brain’ In the film, Riley is 13-years-old, still playing hockey, and preparing for high school.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 12 June 2024
The way Dunst scrunches her eyebrows and speaks in her highest register, never abandoning her character’s gawky sincerity, is a comedic gold mine.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for gawky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawky
Adjective
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Where Huang’s wardrobe for Oz emphasizes his position as a clumsy social climber, aspiring to classic mafia masculinity but too crass to fit in with the old-money elite, Sofia represents a different kind of outsider.Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2024
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Jessica Carter Altman always thought of herself as clumsy.Jeryl Brunner, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
Noun
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And when someone does cross the line, like the louts who doused cops in Harlem and Brownsville with water in 2019, most officers have shown remarkable restraint.Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2024
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That’s the memorable insult that James Kennedy (the DJ of the group) hurled at Tom Sandoval (the resident lout) last season after Sandoval — who had a girlfriend — became romantically involved with Kennedy’s ex-girlfriend.Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024
Adjective
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Jennings read the clue with a slightly awkward tone, then immediately apologized to Heather after it was answered.Gabriella Rudy, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2024
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This is awkward for owners of expensive Galaxy flagships, given Pixels have received the update more quickly.Zak Doffman, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Either Sandler could make great work but cynically chooses not to in order to make more money, or Sandler is a talentless oaf who somehow was able to achieve something actually good with the help of a visionary director.Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2024
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As women have enjoyed more economic opportunities, they’re less often forced to marry some oaf who gets violent after a few drinks — and, anyway, what self-respecting woman with independent means would want to marry, say, a fan of Andrew Tate?Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
Adjective
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With two soldiers able to wrestle the ungainly seven foot long M20 into position on its tripod, the mobility of such a lethal system proved to be a game changer.Mike Hanlon, New Atlas, 12 Oct. 2024
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Series 2 cars, built through 1971, made concessions to U.S. safety regulations, and the Series 3 cars, available as a convertible and an ungainly 2+2, were powered by a 5.3-liter V12 engine.Robert Ross, Robb Report, 28 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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The violence perpetrated by pro-ISIS groups in this region has been episodic and uncoordinated, but the underlying trend is clear—ISIS has shifted away from its initial concern with sovereignty over land and people, moving, in the process, toward a decentralized, global insurgency model.Zachary Abuza, Foreign Affairs, 16 Sep. 2019
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Among the latest victims was a 70-year-old woman whose body was found more than 12 kilometers (seven miles) from her house The slow and uncoordinated response to the crisis has infuriated many in Valencia.Atika Shubert, CNN, 3 Nov. 2024
Noun
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And with nearly 7,500 square feet of living space, tiny tykes are afforded lots of breathing room to enjoy.Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 12 Oct. 2024
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Their reputation and their small tyke’s appetite are counting on something to turn around, and fast.David John Chávez, The Mercury News, 4 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The Esprit's shape, arguably more avant-garde despite its age, consistently pegs the gawk meter.John Phillips, Car and Driver, 18 June 2020
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The badaud, by contrast, is always liable to form a group or crowd, either for a mass gawk or some communal response.Julian Barnes, The New York Review of Books, 27 Apr. 2022
Thesaurus Entries Near gawky
Cite this Entry
“Gawky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawky. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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