Definition of awkwardly in US English:

awkwardly

adverb

1In an ungainly manner; not smoothly or gracefully.
‘she waddled up the stairs awkwardly’
‘he landed awkwardly after both of his vaults’
‘the conclusion seems awkwardly grafted on to the main text’
- ‘The transition scenes are handled a little awkwardly.’
- ‘They are well staged, but somtimes fall awkwardly between uncomfortable realism and Hollywood effectiveness.’
- ‘A child buys a pair of ice cream cones and stomps awkwardly up a flight of steps.’
- ‘The figure's unnaturally elongated legs and awkwardly distended fingers seem a bit too mannered.’
- ‘The directors' faces look cut out, almost as if by hand, and fit awkwardly against the mountain backdrop.’
- ‘She stares straight ahead with her right hand on her hip and her left arm awkwardly looped through her father's elbow.’
- ‘We all sat in close quarters, awkwardly shuffling our coats and bags.’
- ‘Awkwardly sited on the river meander, the bridge has an uncomfortable relationship with the freeway.’
- ‘Given enough webbing, Spider-Man gets awkwardly tangled.’
- ‘In her portraits, the head fits awkwardly on the clothing.’
2In a way that shows uneasy embarrassment.
‘Seth responded awkwardly, allowing the silence once again to settle between them’
‘I cleared my throat awkwardly’
- ‘She let go of him and they both looked around, rocking on their heels awkwardly.’
- ‘Samantha awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear and bit the inside of her lip.’
- ‘"Um, thanks," Kate replied awkwardly, turning her head away to stare shyly at the bench.’
- ‘He just stood there awkwardly for a moment, looking down at her from his full six feet of height.’
- ‘Awkwardly, I tried to start a conversation, hoping that he would have forgotten about what had happened on Sunday.’
- ‘Hiss eyes didn't leave me, which forced me to turn away awkwardly.’
- ‘They stood there awkwardly, staring into each other's eyes.’
- ‘He was suddenly awkwardly aware of the girls walking toward him, especially the dark-haired one in the middle.’
- ‘He scratched the back of his head awkwardly while giving a grin.’
- ‘He coughed awkwardly and Alison could see him place his hand on her knee.’
3In a way that causes difficulty.
‘the cruise control is placed awkwardly on the control column’
‘the ball bounced awkwardly, but Auguste controlled it with his chest’
- ‘The stylish analog clock is awkwardly placed low and to the right of the driver.’
- ‘They can be accessed only via a function key awkwardly placed on the outside of the control key.’
- ‘Furthermore, the socket's retention lever is awkwardly positioned and very difficult to reach.’
- ‘No longer do drivers have to tolerate awkwardly placed controls as quirks of the car's British heritage.’
- ‘The hallway was entered via an awkwardly placed entrance door.’
- ‘Boats can be booby traps, with things like cleats placed awkwardly around the deck to stub bare feet or even send you tumbling overboard.’
- ‘Part of the original wall paintings have been preserved to this day due to the difficult access to the awkwardly situated chapel.’
- ‘The controls were awkwardly designed, with the viewfinder on the far right end of the camera, and the shutter release on the left.’
- ‘Find the deeply nested or otherwise awkwardly located folder and right-click on it.’
- ‘Four of the six computer ports are mounted awkwardly between the slots.’