gauche
/ɡoʊʃ/adjective
gauche is spelled G-A-U-C-H-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, gauche means “Awkward or lacking in social graces; bumbling; apt to make gaffes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gauche?
| Letters | 6: G-A-U-C-H-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,129th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gauche?
Gauche appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th 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 gauche?
- UK /ɡəʊʃ/
- US /ɡoʊʃ/
- /ɡaʊʃ/
Gauche has one syllable (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)-Tesco250-gauche.wav, En-us-gauche.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gauche?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gauche from its last stressed vowel (/oʊʃ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gauche
- more gauche comparative
- gaucher comparative
- most gauche superlative
- gauchest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gauche mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Awkward or lacking in social graces; bumbling; apt to make gaffes.
- 2
archaicSkewed, not plane.
- 3
Having a torsion angle of 60°.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gauche in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense awkward, bumbling:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gauche |
| German | unbeholfen, linkisch, plump |
| Portuguese | desajeitado |
| Spanish | torpe |
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.
Where does gauche come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).