as in clumsy
having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner
the stiff, gawky gait of a newborn colt
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gawky
Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
Take it from a film critic: Even gawky beta nerds get smothered by their own internalized masculinity.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2025
Brittany Murphy, who co-starred as gawky new kid Tai, sadly passed away in 2009.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 17 Apr. 2025
A far cry from the gawky and boyish Norman Bates, B.Z. is a floppy-haired, closeted Hollywood player slowly dissolving in his own nihilism.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gawky
Noun
Crumb’s gawky, eccentric persona was first revealed to the wider public in a 1994 documentary made by his friend Terry Zwigoff, which portrays the cartoonist with all of his incongruities.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
Take it from a film critic: Even gawky beta nerds get smothered by their own internalized masculinity.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2025
Brittany Murphy, who co-starred as gawky new kid Tai, sadly passed away in 2009.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 17 Apr. 2025
A far cry from the gawky and boyish Norman Bates, B.Z. is a floppy-haired, closeted Hollywood player slowly dissolving in his own nihilism.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gawky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawky
Adjective
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And Hank’s own clumsy attempts at hypermasculine child-rearing often come from his father, Cotton (Toby Huss).—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
7 July 2025
-
Gone are are the days of clumsy imagery and texts and fake sign-in pages that can be detected in an instant.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
3 July 2025
Noun
-
There’s at least one major shoe that could drop — why devote an entire episode to the Gemstone origin story if that gold Bible isn’t going to pay off somehow? — but The Righteous Gemstones loves these grotesque, dysfunctional louts.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2025
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And when someone does cross the line, like the louts who doused cops in Harlem and Brownsville with water in 2019, most officers have shown remarkable restraint.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2024
Adjective
-
Advertisement Advertisement To illustrate this point, consider the best man at a wedding who, instead of celebrating the couple, shares personal stories that only serve to embarrass them, often with awkward details that have no place in such a tender moment.—
Matt Abrahams,
Time,
12 July 2025
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An historic night at Madison Square Garden on Friday night turned into an awkward moment in the wee hours of Saturday morning at the Taylor-Serrano 3 post-fight press conference.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
12 July 2025
Noun
-
Buck is a loquacious, glad-handing oaf who has a boring way with a witty story, and is marked for death.—
Fred Schruers,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2025
-
Hackman’s aggravation early on that directors didn’t seek out and exploit his comic and even improv talents was handled unforgettably in his portrayal of Superman villain Lex Luthor, a flamboyant oaf of Trumpian proportions.—
Fred Schruers,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The official title is technically F1®: The Movie, an ungainly, trademarked reminder of both the brand the film was made in conjunction with, and the fact that that brand is so big that this $200-300 million Hollywood production is a blip in comparison.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
26 June 2025
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The cornerstones of maps’ data pools are satellite images and a tireless fleet of Street View cars that roam with ungainly camera hats, constantly refreshing neighborhood-level detail.—
Sonya Bennett-Brandt,
AFAR Media,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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Rushing into a patchwork of uncoordinated state laws will only slow American innovation and give China an opportunity to surge ahead and win this tech race.—
Kristen Waggoner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
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Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, biotech is relatively uncoordinated, with fewer centralized bodies dedicated to regulation or information sharing.—
Eric Schmidt,
Time,
29 May 2025
Noun
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Instead of killing the child or turning him in, Mando takes the 50-year-old lil' tyke in search of a safe place for him while dodging other bounty hunters and what remains of the Imperial forces.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
25 May 2025
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Ashley Johnson, who played the adorable tyke Chrissy Seaver on two seasons of Growing Pains, stopped by the Pod Meets World recording studio to chat with Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
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Here, the blurring is visual: Sometimes Leonard floats into the past looking like Gere, who wears the character without a shred of self-protection as the lens gawks at his raw skin.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Dec. 2024
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The Esprit's shape, arguably more avant-garde despite its age, consistently pegs the gawk meter.—
John Phillips,
Car and Driver,
18 June 2020
Cite this Entry
“Gawky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawky. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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