awkwardness
noun
awkwardness is spelled A-W-K-W-A-R-D-N-E-S-S: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, awkwardness means “The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of awkwardness is awkwardnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in awkwardness?
| Letters | 11: A-W-K-W-A-R-D-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,918th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is awkwardness?
Awkwardness appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce awkwardness?
- US
Awkwardness has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-awkwardness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of awkwardness
- awkwardnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does awkwardness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness.
- 2
The quality of an embarrassing situation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Awkwardness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | maladresse |
| German | Unbeholfenheit, Umständlichkeit, Ungeschicklichkeit, Plumpheit , Peinlichkeit |
| Spanish | torpeza |
| Portuguese | constrangimento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.