gauche

adjective

ˈgōsh 

sometimes gaucher; sometimes gauchest

1

a

: lacking social experience or grace

also : not tactful : crude

it would be gauche to mention the subject

b

: crudely made or done

a gauche turn of phrase

2

: not planar

gauche conformation of molecules

gauchely adverb

gaucheness noun

Did you know?

Gauche and Being Left-Handed

Although it doesn’t mean anything sinister, gauche is one of several words (including sinister) with ties to old suspicions and negative associations relating to the left side and use of the left hand. In French, gauche literally means “left,” and it has the extended meanings “awkward” and “clumsy.” These meanings may have come about because left-handed people could appear awkward trying to manage in a mostly right-handed world, or perhaps because right-handed people appear awkward when trying to use their left hand. Regardless, awkwardness is a likely culprit. Fittingly, awkward itself comes from the Middle English awke, meaning “turned the wrong way” or “left-handed.” On the other hand, adroit and dexterity have their roots in words meaning “right” or “on the right side.”

Synonyms

• awkward
• clumsy
• graceless
• inelegant
• rough-hewn
• rustic
• rustical
• stiff
• stilted
• uncomfortable
• uneasy
• ungraceful
• wooden

Choose the Right Synonym for gauche

awkward, clumsy, maladroit, inept, gauche mean not marked by ease (as of performance, movement, or social conduct).

awkward is widely applicable and may suggest unhandiness, inconvenience, lack of muscular control, embarrassment, or lack of tact.

periods of awkward silence

clumsy implies stiffness and heaviness and so may connote inflexibility, unwieldiness, or lack of ordinary skill.

a clumsy mechanic

maladroit suggests a tendency to create awkward situations.

a maladroit politician

inept often implies complete failure or inadequacy.

a hopelessly inept defense attorney

gauche implies the effects of shyness, inexperience, or ill breeding.

felt gauche and unsophisticated at formal parties

Examples of gauche in a Sentence

Among élite scientists, it was usually considered gauche to be obsessed with anything so tangible or immediate: brilliant discoveries were supposed to percolate. —Michael Specter, New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2007

… furnished it with, among other things, an embarrassingly gauche, oversized Roman Catholic basilica rumored to be larger even than St. Peter's in Vatican City … —Marc A. Schindler, Verbatim, Spring 1992

We were suburban housewives and mothers. As poets we took a respectful backseat to the male poets. We did not talk about our husbands and children in public; that would have been gauche indeed. —Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987

So lofty was her depreciatory manner that I felt myself gauche and was put on the defensive. —Joseph Heller, God Knows, 1984

Would it be gauche of me to ask her how old she is?

his loud talking at the opera marked him as gauche and uncultured

Recent Examples on the Web

In recent years, running seemed strictly prohibited, and playing anything resembling a real basketball game was considered gauche. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 13 Feb. 2025

Lefties who study the French language soon learn that their handedness is gauche, clumsy in English and in French. —Megan Marshall, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2025

Big engagement rings are gauche! —Fran Tirado, Them, 20 Dec. 2024

For a scene at the iconically gauche-glam nightclub and restaurant Tatiana — where the surf and turf will run you $99 — only five crew members went inside. —Daniel D'addario, Variety, 4 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, left

First Known Use

1751, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for gauche

• synecdoche

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Kids Definition

gauche

adjective

ˈgōsh 

: lacking social experience or grace

gaucheness noun

Etymology

French, literally, "left, on the left hand"; probably so called because for most people the left hand is more awkward to use than the right