How to Use awkward in a Sentence

awkward

adjective
  • He was put in the awkward position of having to write the memo.
  • He feels awkward with strangers.
  • He had large feet and his walk was awkward and ungainly.
  • There was an awkward pause in the conversation.
  • The machine is very awkward to operate.
  • She is awkward at dancing.
  • She is an awkward writer.
  • The story contained some awkward writing.
  • I often find myself in awkward situations.
  • That's got to be kind of awkward.
    — Breanne L. Heldman, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Yes, that can get a bit awkward.
    — Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026
  • And then there was the long, awkward pause.
    — Brandon Busteed, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
  • And that was all cool, but that's just awkward.
    — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 18 June 2026
  • Some changes smooth some of the more awkward turns of phrase.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Wiens felt awkward, and the two had a bit of a fight about it.
    — Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Dining alone can feel a bit awkward at first.
    — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Jumpsuit for work that looks awkward with the rest of your shoes?
    — Gina Vaynshteyn, StyleCaster, 12 June 2025
  • That rush runs into an awkward fact.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
  • This isn’t just about one awkward email or a bad blog post either.
    — Don Markland, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
  • The rest of the shower was… awkward.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025
  • But there were some awkward moments too.
    — O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Yes, spaces like this can be awkward.
    — Catherine Mevs, New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2026
  • There, alone and awkward, sat a single trash can.
    — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 12 June 2026
  • Their meeting, at times, felt awkward and tense.
    — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2026
  • And then there’s some very awkward questions to be asked from both of them.
    — Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
  • But that doesn’t mean there still aren’t some awkward moments.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 22 June 2026
  • Their meeting was awkward at best.
    — Aleksandra Crapanzano, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The legs grew before the rest of the body, so the gait was awkward at first.
    — Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 18 Nov. 2024
  • Larry thought the scene was awkward.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • But just as things had started rolling, they were brought to an awkward halt.
    — Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 8 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'awkward.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: