gawkyadj.n.
/ˈɡɔːki/, U.S. /ˈɡɔki/, /ˈɡɑki/ A. adj.
1. Of persons: Awkward and stupid; ungainly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward
stubblea1300
lubber?1515
awkward1530
unwieldy1530
lubberlike1572
unwieldsome1579
lubberly1580
looby1582
wieldy1588
clumsy1597
ungainly1611
unqueme1611
untowardly1611
clouter-likea1624
hip-shot1642
loobish1648
loobily1655
bumble-arsed1661
clouterly1675
lubbard1679
fumbling1681
sinistrousa1682
maladroit1685
shammockinga1704
ungain1710
splay-footed1716
gawky1759
hobbledehoyish1812
uncouthly1821
nunting1836
shammocky1841
numb1854
awkwardish1860
slummocky?1861
numb-footed1867
gawkish1876
flat-footed1899
brontosaurian1909
shamblya1937
slew-foot1945
ham-footed1960
klutzy1961
dorkus1979
1759 J. Townley High Life below Stairs i. i Under the Form of a gawky Country Boy I will be an Eye-witness of my Servants Behaviour.
a1791 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 329 Now deil-ma-care about their jaw, The senseless, gawky million.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. xi. 303 A stupid gawky boy of about 14.
1860 W. M. Thackeray Lovel ii I should like to know who that great tall gawky..girl in the passage is.
1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley's Secret I. iii. 59 Her cousin looked round in gawky embarrassment.
2. transferred of things.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward > of things or actions
fumbling1532
untoward1590
untowardly1611
clumsy1682
indextrous1684
shambling1802
gawky1821
angular1830
buckety1883
1821 J. Galt Ayrshire Legatees x. 288 As for the town of Brighton, it's what I would call a gawky piece of London.
1832 L. Hunt Sir Ralph Esher I. xi. 246 Never heard I in my life such an infernal noise as our great gawky ship made.
1843 Ld. Shaftesbury in Life (1887) xi. 263 The little church..choked with high gawky boxes that they call pews.
B. n.
An awkward, foolish person; a lout, a simpleton.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > stupid person, dolt, blockhead > lout, oaf, booby > [noun]
lubber1362
looby1377
howfing?a1513
slouch?1518
bowberta1522
knuckylbonyarda1529
lob1533
lout1548
patch1549
hoballa1556
lilburnea1556
lobcocka1556
chub1558
hick1565
lourd1579
peasant1581
clown1583
lubbard1586
lumberer1593
lump1597
blooterc1600
boobyc1600
lob-coat1604
hoy1607
bacon-brainsa1635
alcatote1638
oaf1638
kelf1665
brute1670
dowf1722
gawky1724
chuckle1731
chuckle-head1731
John Trott1753
stega1823
lummoxa1825
gawk1837
country jakea1854
guffin1862
galoot1866
stot1877
lobster1896
mutt1900
palooka1920
schlub1950
1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) II. 163 What signifies how pawky, Or gentle-born ye be,—bot youth In love your but a gawky.
1762 London Chron. XI. 263/2 Some wear their hats..pointed into the air; those are the Gawkies.
a1764 R. Lloyd Familiar Epist. to Friend in Wks. (1790) 55 The great gawky Admiration, Parent of stupid Imitation.
a1816 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal (rev. ed.) ii. ii, in Wks. (1821) II. 47 She is..an awkward gawky.
1863 C. C. Clarke Shakespeare-characters ii. 58 Audrey is the most perfect specimen of a wondering she-gawky.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda III. vi. xlviii. 340 Nothing makes a woman more of a gawky than..showing tempers in public.
Derivatives
ˈgawkihood n. the condition, state, or period of being a ‘gawky’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > clumsiness or awkwardness
bungerliness1598
lubberliness1598
indexterity1611
sinisterity1623
clumsiness1652
ungainness1727
ungainliness1755
awkwardnessa1770
maladroitness1781
ponderousness1801
lumberingness1869
gawkihood1872
gawkiness1873
klutziness1973
1872 F. W. Robinson Bridge of Glass II. xxii. 285 It was like the Fanny Redbridge whom he had teased and jested with in her girlhood and gawkyhood.
ˈgawkiness n. the quality of being gawky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > clumsiness or awkwardness
bungerliness1598
lubberliness1598
indexterity1611
sinisterity1623
clumsiness1652
ungainness1727
ungainliness1755
awkwardnessa1770
maladroitness1781
ponderousness1801
lumberingness1869
gawkihood1872
gawkiness1873
klutziness1973
1873 R. Broughton Nancy III. ii. 32 The crude gawkiness of the raw girl he has drifted into marrying.
1889 J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums xiv. 127 The minister's wife..smiling good-humouredly at country gawkiness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1724