awk·ward / ˈôkwərd/ • adj. 1. causing difficulty; hard to do or deal with: one of the most awkward jobs is painting a ceiling. ∎  deliberately unreasonable or uncooperative: please excuse my daughter—she's at an awkward age.2. causing or feeling embarrassment or inconvenience: he had put her in a very awkward situation.3. not smooth or graceful; ungainly. ∎  uncomfortable or abnormal: sleeping in an awkward position.DERIVATIVES: awk·ward·ly adv.awk·ward·ness n.

awkward †adv. in the wrong direction XIV; adj. †perverse, untoward XVI; clumsy or ungainly XVI; embarrassing, difficult XVIII. orig. north. and Sc.; f. †awk backhanded, perverse (—ON. ǫfugr turned the wrong way) + -WARD.