What are some opposite words for awkward?
Antonyms for awkward
ˈɔk wərdawk·ward
This page is about all possible antonyms and opposite words for the term awkward.
Wiktionary
awkwardadjective
Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments
John was awkward at performing the trick. He'll have to practise to improve.
Antonyms:
skillful, dexterous, gainly, gracefulSynonyms:
lubberly, clumsy, ungraceful, unhandyawkwardadjective
Lacking social skills, or uncomfortable with social interaction
Synonyms:
maladroit
English Synonyms and Antonyms
awkward
Awkward, from awk (kindred with off, from the Norwegian), is off-ward, turned the wrong way; it was anciently used of a back-handed or left-handed blow in battle, of squinting eyes, etc. Clumsy, on the other hand (from clumse, also through the Norwegian), signifies benumbed, stiffened with cold; this is the original meaning of clumsy fingers, clumsy limbs. Thus, awkward primarily refers to action, clumsy to condition. A tool, a vehicle, or the human frame may be clumsy in shape or build, awkward in motion. The clumsy man is almost of necessity awkward, but the awkward man may not be naturally clumsy. The finest untrained colt is awkward in harness; a horse that is clumsy in build can never be trained out of awkwardness. An awkward statement has an uncomfortable, and perhaps recoiling force; a statement that contains ill-assorted and incongruous material in ill-chosen language is clumsy. We speak of an awkward predicament, an awkward scrape. An awkward excuse commonly reflects on the one who offers it. We say the admitted facts have an awkward appearance. In none of these cases could clumsy be used. Clumsy is, however, applied to movements that seem as unsuitable as those of benumbed and stiffened limbs. A dancing bear is both clumsy and awkward.
Antonyms:
adroit, clever, dexterous, handy, skilfulSynonyms:
boorish, bungling, clownish, clumsy, gawky, maladroit, rough, uncouth, ungainly, unhandy, unskilfulPreposition:
The raw recruit is awkward in action; at the business.
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
Princeton's WordNet
awkwardadjective
causing inconvenience
"they arrived at an awkward time"
Antonyms:
graceful, convenient, smooth, lithesome, lissom, wieldy, willowy, gracile, gainly, fluid, comfortable, lissome, felicitous, fluent, svelte, liquid, sylphlike, elegant, supple, lithe, slender, easySynonyms:
uneasy, inept, ill at ease(p), ill-chosen, inapt, ungainly, cumbersome, embarrassing, bunglesome, sticky, unenviable, clumsyawkwardadjective
lacking grace or skill in manner or movement or performance
"an awkward dancer"; "an awkward gesture"; "too awkward with a needle to make her own clothes"; "his clumsy fingers produced an awkward knot"
Antonyms:
liquid, lissom, lithe, supple, svelte, lissome, elegant, smooth, fluid, graceful, felicitous, sylphlike, easy, gracile, slender, comfortable, convenient, willowy, fluent, gainly, wieldy, lithesomeSynonyms:
uneasy, inept, ill at ease(p), ill-chosen, inapt, ungainly, cumbersome, embarrassing, bunglesome, sticky, unenviable, clumsyawkward, bunglesome, clumsy, ungainlyadjective
difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape
"an awkward bundle to carry"; "a load of bunglesome paraphernalia"; "clumsy wooden shoes"; "the cello, a rather ungainly instrument for a girl"
Antonyms:
convenient, gracile, smooth, sylphlike, gainly, fluid, lissome, wieldy, easy, elegant, felicitous, willowy, fluent, slender, lithesome, graceful, svelte, liquid, lissom, comfortable, supple, litheSynonyms:
unenviable, ungainly, ill-chosen, fumbling, clumsy, inapt, gawky, bunglesome, cumbersome, bungling, inept, incompetent, unwieldy, embarrassing, clunky, ill at ease(p), uneasy, stickyawkward, clumsy, cumbersome, inapt, inept, ill-chosenadjective
not elegant or graceful in expression
"an awkward prose style"; "a clumsy apology"; "his cumbersome writing style"; "if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?"
Antonyms:
fluid, liquid, svelte, elegant, felicitous, lithe, gracile, supple, lissom, gainly, wieldy, lissome, comfortable, easy, willowy, convenient, slender, graceful, lithesome, smooth, sylphlike, fluentSynonyms:
cumbrous, unenviable, feckless, ungainly, ill-chosen, tactless, fumbling, clumsy, inapt, gawky, bunglesome, cumbersome, bungling, inept, incompetent, unwieldy, embarrassing, clunky, ill at ease(p), uneasy, stickyawkward, embarrassing, sticky, unenviableadjective
hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment
"awkward (or embarrassing or difficult) moments in the discussion"; "an awkward pause followed his remark"; "a sticky question"; "in the unenviable position of resorting to an act he had planned to save for the climax of the campaign"
Antonyms:
lissome, wieldy, gainly, willowy, elegant, svelte, liquid, lithesome, slender, easy, supple, lissom, fluid, graceful, smooth, fluent, lithe, comfortable, gracile, felicitous, sylphlike, convenientSynonyms:
mortifying, unenviable, ungainly, ill-chosen, clumsy, inapt, glutinous, mucilaginous, viscous, bunglesome, muggy, cumbersome, viscid, inept, embarrassing, gummy, ill at ease(p), gluey, pasty, uneasy, steamy, stickyawkward, ill at ease(p), uneasyadjective
socially uncomfortable; unsure and constrained in manner
"awkward and reserved at parties"; "ill at ease among eddies of people he didn't know"; "was always uneasy with strangers"
Antonyms:
fluent, sylphlike, easy, wieldy, slender, smooth, fluid, liquid, willowy, graceful, elegant, lissom, felicitous, convenient, svelte, lithesome, supple, comfortable, lithe, gracile, gainly, lissome
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
Editors Contribution
elegance
causing difficulty; hard to do or deal with
she dances very awkwardly
Submitted by rinat on June 11, 2017
How to use awkward in a sentence?
Whilst oil prices have gone down, support for independence has remained constant, obviously if there was a referendum now, it would be one of lots of very awkward questions for the SNP... but there isn't a referendum now.
Anthony David -LRB- @anthonydavidatl -RRB-:
I just recently did a Bill Withers tribute and that was way more awkward than I thought.
She went through some awkward years getting the people in Monaco to accept her.
... There are tons of times throughout the movie where you're laughing, it's just an awkward journey through a pretty seemingly ordinary situation.
That awkward moment you realize Docker is an IFrame. This is worse than that time I realized MMU's were NAT's.
Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#621 | easy | |
#1457 | cool | |
#3533 | liquid | |
#3746 | comfortable | |
#3880 | smooth | |
#5086 | fluid | |
#5143 | convenient | |
#6109 | elegant | |
#7345 | handy | |
#10247 | clever | |
#10534 | neat | |
#17452 | awkward | |
#19860 | graceful | |
#19918 | slender | |
#20530 | fluent | |
#29634 | supple | |
#34606 | skillful | |
#49126 | amiable | |
#52506 | skilful | |
#70664 | adroit | |
#83606 | lithe | |
#96818 | svelte | |
#112460 | felicitous | |
#122314 | dexterous | |
#174149 | willowy | |
#217273 | gracile |
Translation
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"awkward." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/antonyms/awkward>.
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