1
as in clumsily
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2
as in ungracefully
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Recent Examples of awkwardly
Flashing lights and costumed officers flood the theater, as Bernthal and Hecht awkwardly try to get the audience to chant along.
—
Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026
Out in the middle of current-day Edwards Air Force Base — one of the largest airfields in the world, at some 480 square miles — a small team began the X-plane program, a series of experimental aircraft designed to travel faster, higher and (purposefully) more awkwardly than ever before.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Then Nnaji took an elbow to the face from Kristaps Porzingis and landed awkwardly.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 30 Mar. 2026
The last two generations came of age in a world where digital birthday cards are standard, signatures are scrawled awkwardly using a finger and to-do shopping lists no longer offer the satisfying opportunity to scratch out item after item.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026
The film showed a clip of Gastineau awkwardly confronting Favre.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Not all of the performances are uniformly excellent, and some of the one-liners Ropp writes in for Brian’s classmates and parents land awkwardly.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2026
The senior forward landed awkwardly after a layup and rolled his ankle.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026
Smart awkwardly fell during the second quarter of Saturday’s game, heading to the locker room briefly before returning for the final minutes of the first half with a wrap around his right thigh.
—Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 22 Mar. 2026
Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026
Out in the middle of current-day Edwards Air Force Base — one of the largest airfields in the world, at some 480 square miles — a small team began the X-plane program, a series of experimental aircraft designed to travel faster, higher and (purposefully) more awkwardly than ever before.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Then Nnaji took an elbow to the face from Kristaps Porzingis and landed awkwardly.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 30 Mar. 2026
The last two generations came of age in a world where digital birthday cards are standard, signatures are scrawled awkwardly using a finger and to-do shopping lists no longer offer the satisfying opportunity to scratch out item after item.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026
The film showed a clip of Gastineau awkwardly confronting Favre.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Not all of the performances are uniformly excellent, and some of the one-liners Ropp writes in for Brian’s classmates and parents land awkwardly.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2026
The senior forward landed awkwardly after a layup and rolled his ankle.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026
Smart awkwardly fell during the second quarter of Saturday’s game, heading to the locker room briefly before returning for the final minutes of the first half with a wrap around his right thigh.
—Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 22 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for awkwardly
Adverb
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The four leads are overconfident and loutish, spending their time drinking, rambling, and clumsily working through their worries about the future.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
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In the Connecticut cases, as well as hundreds of similar cases around the country, the lawyers used software that produced what appeared to be somewhat clumsily written but otherwise solid legal briefs.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
1 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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The collapse of the Constitution’s balance of powers between three branches of government got us into an unneeded war conducted ineptly.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
15 Mar. 2026
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Dancing the Poznan really ineptly, mind you, but dancing nonetheless.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
8 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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And unfortunately, the president just hasn't done that.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
5 Apr. 2026
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This is unfortunately familiar territory for Miami, which has needed to qualify for the playoffs through the play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Awkwardly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/awkwardly. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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