awkwardness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂époh₃kʷos Proto-Germanic *abuhaz Old Norse ǫfugrder. Middle English awke English awk Proto-Indo-European *wert-der. Proto-Germanic *wardaz Old English -weard English -ward English awkward Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English awkwardness From awkward + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness.
[…] instead of the joyous voices of his playfellows he hears the rough commands of an unindulgent master or a scolding mistress; — he is continually reproached for his awkwardness and timidity, and reminded of his pauper origin.
1849, Minutes of the committee of council on education, page 82:
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(uncountable, usually) The quality of an embarrassing situation.
Such awkwardnesses indicate that Lenin was conscious of the daily erosion of what few democratic institutions remained, but wished from time to time to invoke the virtuous-sounding name of democracy.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 506:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| awkwardnesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| aukwardness | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
ineptitude · inelegance · ineptness · clunkiness · discomfiture · clumsiness
Translations (23)
de Unbeholfenheit (the state or quality of being awkward) · hu esetlenség (the quality of an embarrassing situation) · tl katungalan (the state or quality of being awkward) · fi kiusallisuus (the quality of an embarrassing situation) · tl tungal (the state or quality of being awkward) · nl onbeholpenheid (the state or quality of being awkward) · nl onhandigheid (the state or quality of being awkward) · de Ungeschicklichkeit (the state or quality of being awkward) · ga amlógacht (the state or quality of being awkward) · es torpeza (the state or quality of being awkward) · de Plumpheit (the state or quality of being awkward) · de Umständlichkeit (the state or quality of being awkward) · de Peinlichkeit (the quality of an embarrassing situation) · bg несръчност (the state or quality of being awkward) · ga ainnise (the state or quality of being awkward) · eo malgracieco (the state or quality of being awkward) · bg непохватност (the state or quality of being awkward) · tl pagkatungal (the state or quality of being awkward) · fi kömpelyys (the state or quality of being awkward) · ga liopastacht (the state or quality of being awkward) · pt constrangimento (the quality of an embarrassing situation) · ga amlóireacht (the state or quality of being awkward) · fr maladresse (the state or quality of being awkward)