gauche

gauche

adj \ˈgōsh\

sometimes gauch·er sometimes gauch·est

Definition of GAUCHE

1

a : lacking social experience or grace; also : not tactful : crude <it would be gauche to mention the subject> b : crudely made or done <a gauche turn of phrase>

2

: not planar <gauche conformation of molecules>

— gauche·ly adverb

— gauche·ness noun

Examples of GAUCHE

1. Would it be gauche of me to ask her how old she is?
2. <his loud talking at the opera marked him as gauche and uncultured>
3. Among élite scientists, it was usually considered gauche to be obsessed with anything so tangible or immediate: brilliant discoveries were supposed to percolate. —Michael Specter, New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2007
4. … furnished it with, among other things, an embarrassingly gauche, oversized Roman Catholic basilica rumored to be larger even than St. Peter's in Vatican City… —Marc A. Schindler, Verbatim, Spring 1992
5. We were suburban housewives and mothers. As poets we took a respectful backseat to the male poets. We did not talk about our husbands and children in public; that would have been gauche indeed. —Maxine Kumin, In Deep,1987
6. So lofty was her depreciatory manner that I felt myself gauche and was put on the defensive. —Joseph Heller, God Knows,1984

Origin of GAUCHE

French, literally, left

First Known Use: 1751

Related to GAUCHE

Synonyms: clumsy, awkward, graceless, inelegant, rough-hewn, rustic (also rustical), stiff, stilted, uncomfortable, uneasy, ungraceful, wooden

Antonyms: graceful, suave, urbane

Related Words: angular, gawky, lubberly, ungainly; boorish, clownish, uncouth; abashed, discomfited, discomforted, discomposed, disconcerted, discountenanced, embarrassed; self-conscious; agitated, bothered, chagrined, dismayed, disquieted, distressed, disturbed, fazed, flustered, jittery, jumpy, mortified, nervous, nonplussed (also nonplused), perturbed, rattled, unhinged, unsettled, upset; diffident, insecure, meek, modest, self-doubting, timid, unassertive, unassuming, unpretentious

Near Antonyms: assured, calm, collected, composed, confident, cool, placid, poised, secure, self-assured, self-confident, self-possessed, serene, tranquil, undisturbed, unperturbed

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See Synonym Discussion at awkward

Rhymes with GAUCHE

cloche, skosh