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.

Wiktionary5.0 / 1 vote

  1. 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, graceful

    Synonyms:
    lubberly, clumsy, ungraceful, unhandy

  2. awkwardadjective

    Lacking social skills, or uncomfortable with social interaction

    Synonyms:
    maladroit

    Antonyms:
    amiable, cool

English Synonyms and Antonyms0.0 / 0 votes

  1. 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, skilful

    Synonyms:
    boorish, bungling, clownish, clumsy, gawky, maladroit, rough, uncouth, ungainly, unhandy, unskilful

    Preposition:
    The raw recruit is awkward in action; at the business.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms0.0 / 0 votes

  1. awkward

    Antonyms:
    neat, clever, dexterous, skilful, adroit, handy

    Synonyms:
    ungainly, clownish, clumsy, maladroit, unhandy, uncouth, rough, boorish, bungling, gawky

Princeton's WordNet0.0 / 0 votes

  1. 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, easy

    Synonyms:
    uneasy, inept, ill at ease(p), ill-chosen, inapt, ungainly, cumbersome, embarrassing, bunglesome, sticky, unenviable, clumsy

  2. awkwardadjective

    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, lithesome

    Synonyms:
    uneasy, inept, ill at ease(p), ill-chosen, inapt, ungainly, cumbersome, embarrassing, bunglesome, sticky, unenviable, clumsy

  3. awkward, 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, lithe

    Synonyms:
    unenviable, ungainly, ill-chosen, fumbling, clumsy, inapt, gawky, bunglesome, cumbersome, bungling, inept, incompetent, unwieldy, embarrassing, clunky, ill at ease(p), uneasy, sticky

  4. awkward, 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, fluent

    Synonyms:
    cumbrous, unenviable, feckless, ungainly, ill-chosen, tactless, fumbling, clumsy, inapt, gawky, bunglesome, cumbersome, bungling, inept, incompetent, unwieldy, embarrassing, clunky, ill at ease(p), uneasy, sticky

  5. awkward, 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, convenient

    Synonyms:
    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, sticky

  6. awkward, 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 Words0.0 / 0 votes

  1. awkwardadjective

    Antonyms:
    graceful, dexterous, deft, courtly, elegant, adroit, clever

    Synonyms:
    clumsy, ungraceful, bungling, maladroit, gawky, inelegant, ungainly, loutish, unskillful, unwieldy, uncourtly, embarrassing

Editors Contribution0.0 / 0 votes

  1. 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?

  1. Dan Springer:

    It makes you feel, quite frankly, awkward, you don't want to think of yourself as benefiting from something so tremendously terrible for the world.

  2. Nirit Soffer-Dudek:

    A lot of awkward things happen in the night when people are sleep deprived, drink caffeine too late, drink alcohol too late, worked too late or slept four hours last night because they stayed up too late, the fundamental core and foundation of healthy dream life starts with healthy sleep.

  3. Andrew Bauch:

    PayPal is in an awkward kind of purgatory with John Rainey leaving.

  4. Mary Lorraine Buckley:

    Husbands are awkward things to deal with even keeping them in hot water will not make them tender.

  5. Taylor Swift:

    She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour, she tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I'm surprisingly non-confrontational -- you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It's awkward, and I don't like it.

How to pronounce awkward?

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Words popularity by usage frequency

rankingword
#621easy
#1457cool
#3533liquid
#3746comfortable
#3880smooth
#5086fluid
#5143convenient
#6109elegant
#7345handy
#10247clever
#10534neat
#17452awkward
#19860graceful
#19918slender
#20530fluent
#29634supple
#34606skillful
#49126amiable
#52506skilful
#70664adroit
#83606lithe
#96818svelte
#112460felicitous
#122314dexterous
#174149willowy
#217273gracile

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