mindmap root((笨拙)) awkward is widely applicable and may suggest unhandiness, inconvenience, lack of control, embarrassment, or lack of tact: a dinner party marked by periods of ~ silence. clumsy implies stiffness and heaviness, and so may connote inflexibility, unwieldiness, ponderousness, or lack of ordinary skill: a writer with a persistently ~ style. maladroit suggests a deficiency of tact and a tendency to create awkward situations: a ~ handling of a delicate situation. inept often implies inappropriateness, futility, and absurdity: blamed the conviction on his ~ defense attorney. gauche implies the effects of shyness, inexperience, or ill-breeding: always felt ~ and unsophisticated at formal parties.