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

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawkish
Adjective
  • In all of the courses, the pedagogy is an awkward pastiche of traditions, combining Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Slavic paganism, Siberian shamanism, and Asian spiritual practices, spiked with elements of Jungian and American pop psychology.
    Julia Ioffe, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Pignato shared a scene from a recent consult with a rival company that wanted advice on how to bring AI into its engineering workflow, and an awkward generational mismatch.
    Jason Ma, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Even the basic details of the situation can sound like the clumsy plot of some apocalyptic thriller.
    Simon Shuster, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
  • An exceptionally clumsy device.
    Mark Phelan, Freep.com, 23 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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“Gawkish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawkish. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.

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