gauche

CEFRC2

/ɡaʊʃ/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Socially awkward or lacking good manners.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Having a torsion angle of 60°.

Examples

  • I am so gauche with these wretched baubles.

  • Tom is so naive that his gauche manners can hardly offend anyone.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ɡoʊʃ/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Skewed, not plane.

  2. Awkward or lacking in social graces; bumbling; apt to make gaffes.

More examples

In context

  • Seeking by vulgar pomp and gauche display In 'good society', to make her way

  • She looked a trifle gauche, it struck me; more like a country girl with the hoyden taming in her than the well-bred creature she is.

  • "He's a trifle gauche" said Lady Hammergallow, jumping upon the Vicar's attention. "He neither bows nor smiles. He must cultivate oddities like that. Every successful executant is more or less gauche."

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He spilled his drink and told an awkward joke, showing his blank social skills.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

Borrowed from French gauche (“left, awkward”), from gauchir (“to veer, turn”), from Old French gaucher (“to trample, walk clumsily”), from Frankish *walkan (“to full, trample”), from Proto-Germanic *walkaną (“to full, roll up”). Akin to Old High German walchan (“to knead”), Old English wealcian (“to roll up, curl”) and English walk, Old Norse valka (“to drag about”). More at walk.