gawkier; gawkiest
: awkward, clumsy
a gawky adolescent
gawkily adverb
gawkiness noun
gawky noun

Examples of gawky in a Sentence

the stiff, gawky gait of a newborn colt
Recent Examples on the Web Coppola had submitted a picture of herself at fourteen—gawky and beaming, with an asymmetrical haircut—sitting at the tony Parisian restaurant Davé next to the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024 But now, in adulthood, those former gawky adolescents are getting the last laugh. Laura Neilson, WSJ, 14 Dec. 2023 For motorists travelling north on I-93, 50 Prospect looms in the distance like an overly tall, gawky teenager. James McCown, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2023 On Tuesday, Rodgers sang with fierce intensity, danced Tina’s trademark shimmying steps to perfection and credibly matured from gawky teen to suicidal abuse victim to confident and no-nonsense superstar. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2023 London wasn’t quite swinging yet, and British rock was barely emerging from its gawky teen phase. Elizabeth Winder, Rolling Stone, 24 July 2023 Charles Philip Arthur George, then a gawky 20-year-old, was crowned Prince of Wales nearly 55 years ago in the crenelated fortress that dominates this pretty Welsh town. Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2023 The new teaser sees our gawky hero Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), now college-age, reunite with Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), before taking a colorful spin through the spider-verse along with Oscar Isaac’s Spider-Man 2099 (who was teased in the Into the Spider-Verse post-credits scene). Charu Sinha, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2021 Ron Pownall Mike Grenier wasn’t buying all the hype about this gawky kid named Bruce Springsteen. James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gawky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

gawk entry 1 + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1759, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gawky was in 1759

Dictionary Entries Near gawky

Cite this Entry

“Gawky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gawky. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

gawky

adjective
gawkier; gawkiest
gawkily adverb
gawkiness
-kē-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on gawky

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