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.     （awkward有3个意思  1、不优美、笨拙、缺乏技巧not graceful; clumsy; lacking skill，如awkward dancing/movements/writing/writer笨拙(不优美)的舞蹈/动作/写作/作家  2、难以使用把握的difficult to use or handle，如an awkward tool/tool难用的工具/难拿的箱子  3、难以处理的尴尬的not easy to deal with, not socially comfortable，如it was an awkward moment for everyone这一刻使每个人都感到尴尬（即难以应对），an awkward question/customer难回答的问题/难对付的顾客，如an awkward pause/silence in the conversation谈话中尴尬的停顿/沉默(本例)，如I fell awkward (about) asking you to help向你求助我感到尴尬，如awkward with/around strangers面对陌生人时尴尬）


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.    tact本义是触碰触觉，引申为人际交往中的技巧。详见【同义词辨析】 2018-12-26 技巧tact-savoir faire


inept: often implies inappropriateness, futility, and absurdity: blamed the conviction on his ~ defense attorney.     inappropriate不合适，futile完全无用徒劳浪费   (又如nept mechanics/planning/remark无能的机械师/无用的计划/笨拙的一席话，政论节目中较常用，特朗普曾用inept形容奥巴马


gauche: implies the effects of shyness, inexperience, or ill-breeding: always felt ~ and unsophisticated at formal parties.     （多表示缺乏经验导致不善社交，如a gauche schoolgirl/manner不善社交的女生/笨拙的举止，we're all a bit gauche when we're young年轻的时候都有点不善社交(笨嘴笨手)，如would it be gauche of me to ask her how old she is?我去问她年龄是不是有点不聪明？）


awkward尴尬、笨拙: 强调使人尴尬的，或不方便顺手的，或缺乏能力技巧的，clumsy笨拙: 强调生硬笨重，缺乏常人应有的技巧，maladroit笨拙: 表示缺乏技巧，可能造成更多问题麻烦，inept笨拙无能: 指笨拙无用到荒唐的程度，gauche笨拙不善社交不老练:  指由于害羞或缺乏培养历练导致的社交上的笨拙


记忆方法: 1)  首字母联想ACMIG，把AC米兰错写成AC米格<==笨拙
         
         2）练习一下

         3) 笨拙的意思是动作不轻松连贯mean not marked by ease and smoothness(as of performance or movement).首字母联想ACMIG，把AC米兰错写成AC米格<==笨拙