as in awkward
having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner the kind of gawkish girl who trips while receiving her high school diploma

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawkish
Adjective
  • The rise of digital payment systems has made tipping both easier and more awkward, especially when prompts appear at counters, kiosks and drive-thru windows.
    Peter Burke, FOXNews.com, 9 Nov. 2025
  • Use this a couple of times a week for smoother, brighter skin (without getting sunburnt and sand in awkward places).
    Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • For starters, even at 4 mm by 4 mm, the Utah array would be too big and clumsy a hunk of hardware for Science to implant in the eye or Synchron to thread through a vein.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 Nov. 2025
  • What resulted is one of the most comic, counterproductive, and clumsy episodes in the long history of British efforts to deal with Ireland.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Where Aytaç was large but poised, Abdi was insubstantial, scrawny, and unsteady on his feet.
    David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
  • If something feels unsteady or on shaky ground, it will be revealed — not to break you, but to rebuild something stronger.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Gawkish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawkish. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.

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