Start a free trial

Word for Wednesday: Awkward


Awkward was first recorded as meaning ‘clumsy’ in the 1520s, and by 1704 referred to someone or something known for his/her/its ‘lack of grace’. It wasn’t until 1788 that the word was used in reference to ‘social embarrassment’.

The word has origins in the Old Norse ‘afugr’ meaning ‘turned the wrong way around’.



02 Dec 2015
blog home

Tags:

Word, Awkward, Meaning, Wednesday

Start a free trial

"Fantastic - the most relevant material/resource ever seen for both dyslexia and teaching spelling rules."

College Lecturer