awkwardness
- noun
- /ˈɔːkwərdnəs/
- The awkwardness of maneuvering the heavy furniture through the cramped hallway made the task challenging.
Examples
-
He struggled with the awkwardness of carrying the large box down the narrow staircase.
-
Considering the relative awkwardness of the act of self-injection into the neck, it is not uncommon for needles to bend and then break, resulting in a needle fragment being left in the patient.
Academic text (1996) -
That can increase the risk of ankle rolling, falls, and general awkwardness, Goodman says.
Blog text (12) -
For many hours, many days, she stared at the prepared canvas tacked to the wall, trying to adjust to the awkwardness of the materials.
Fiction book (1997) -
The engraved technique, awkwardness of the lettering, and curved form apparently led early observers to assume the word was a later, spurious addition.
Academic text (2012) -
She felt a sense of awkwardness as she tried to hold the bulky painting without dropping it.
Synonyms
1
3.9
Being large and hard to carry or move
1
6.1
The state of being very heavy and hard to lift
1
7.8
Difficulty carrying something because of large size or heavy weight
1
7.9
Difficulty using or managing something because it is large, heavy, and awkward
Antonyms
How Unwieldy
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Awkwardness comes from an old Norse word afugr that meant 'turned the wrong way'. So when a thing is the 'wrong' shape or hard to hold, its awkwardness is the difficulty of carrying or managing it.