adjective · informal
awkward
UK/ˈɔːkwəd/US/ˈɔːkwərd/AWK·ward
making you feel embarrassed or causing difficulty because of clumsiness or social discomfort
Examples
“There was an awkward silence when no one knew the answer.”
“He has an awkward way of holding his cup and often spills.”
“It was awkward to ask for a pay rise when the manager was absent.”
Band 8 sentence
“The interview became slightly awkward when the panel disagreed about the candidate's experience.”
Collocations
- awkward silence
- feel awkward
Word family
Common mistakes
awkwardly (used as adjective)→awkward
awkwardness (to modify a noun directly)→awkward
Say it for a higher band
5clumsy→6uncomfortable→7+awkward
Synonyms
clumsy
embarrassing
Easily confused
clumsy
“He was so clumsy that he dropped the tray twice.”
embarrassing
“It was embarrassing when she forgot his name.”
Related words
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In -ward
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