Qualities
Synonyms for awkward
Synonyms for awkward: embarrassing, clumsy and inept. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 3 synonyms for awkward
Interchangeable with awkward, one per sense
Audited under awkward's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one awkward carries in that sense.
- embarrassingadjective, in the sense "hard to deal with"
- clumsyadjective, in the sense "difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape"
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name awkward as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- ineptinept is an adjective in the sense "not elegant or graceful in expression"
two of these come from awkward's own entries in the bank, and one was audited from the other word's side of the pair. Both directions were read by a human, and only the sense quoted differs.
hard to deal with
An awkward pause followed his remark.
awkward in 2 more sentences, same sense
- During the meeting, his awkward joke about layoffs left the whole room silent.
- In her letter, she added an awkward postscript explaining why she'd missed the wedding.
How it behaves: In this sense, awkward typically modifies nouns like silence, pause, or moment, describing a tense social situation, and appears mostly in informal spoken or narrative register.
The true synonym
embarrassing
Same sentence, swapped: An embarrassing pause followed his remark.
Close but different
These three are the other tiles for this sense. Each is a real word, and none of them can stand where awkward stands in the sentence above.
- unhappy
- massive
- empty
Opposites, in this sense
comfortable, smooth and easy reverse awkward as it is used in the sentence above. A different sense of awkward takes different opposites, which is why these sit inside the sense and not at the top of the page.
- comfortable
- smooth
- easy
difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape
An awkward bundle to carry.
The true synonym
clumsy
Same sentence, swapped: An clumsy bundle to carry.
Close but different
These three are the other tiles the game puts on screen for this sense, and the note above says why the closest of them fails. None is a synonym for awkward in the sentence quoted.
- embarrassing
- uneasy
- raw
Where awkward turns up in the game
awkward is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across two difficulty tiers. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in three other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.
The puzzles where awkward is the trap
- disturbingadjective, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is worrying, in the sense "causing distress or worry or anxiety", and awkward is one of the three tiles that lose.
- uneasyadjective, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is restless, in the sense "lacking or not affording physical or mental rest", and awkward is one of the three tiles that lose.
- leadenadjective, Tier 4, High Camp. The answer there is dull, in the sense "darkened with overcast", and awkward is one of the three tiles that lose.
Play awkward
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so awkward reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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Neighbours by theme before neighbours by difficulty, because qualities is the company awkward keeps.
A reason under every answer, not just a right answer
Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. awkward carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.