gawkish

adjective

ˈgȯ-kish How to pronounce gawkish (audio)
Definition of gawkishnext
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
  1. awkward
  2. clumsy
  3. unsteady
Adjective
  • The payoff is that bulky, awkward items like pot lids and foil boxes stop monopolizing a shelf and become easy to grab.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Within this awkward relic of several other ages, New York’s past gets fetishized, chopped up, and whirled together into digestible entertainment.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of awkward
Adjective
  • One of the clumsiest parts of Klosterman’s book is his attempts at political punditry.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Feed your head Neagley gets off to a sluggish start, with a workmanlike, rather clumsy first episode largely spent establishing the main characters and central plot—and the writers lean a bit too hard on constant Chicago callbacks.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of clumsy
Adjective
  • When Latif’s wife dies, he’s immediately forced to tamp down on the instincts that have provided for his family and wade unsteady into a world of bottles, transport, and dinner time.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2026
  • But, fighting Parkinson’s disease, his body was visibly unsteady on that July night.
    — Nicole Bennett, AJC.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of unsteady
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.

Browse Nearby Words

gawking
gawkish
gawkishness
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Cite this Entry

“Gawkish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawkish. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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