gauche

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gauche

/ɡəʊʃ/ UK
/ɡoʊʃ/ US
/ɡaʊʃ/
/ɡoʊʃ/

Rhymes with -əʊʃ

Where it comes 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.

adjective more gauche · gaucher · most gauche · gauchest

Awkward or lacking in social graces; bumbling; apt to make gaffes. Seeking by vulgar pomp and gauche display In 'good society', to make her way
Similar: graceless, tactless, unsophisticated, unpolished, gawky
archaic Skewed, not plane.
not comparable Having a torsion angle of 60°.

Opposite: adroit

Thesaurus

adjective

Opposite: adroit

Translations

Every language

adj awkward, bumbling

Español	torpe
Português	desajeitado
Français	gauche
Deutsch	unbeholfen, linkisch, plump
Русский	неуклю́жий neukljúžij, неуме́лый neumélyj

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MLA

"gauche." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gauche. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gauche. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gauche

Chicago

"gauche." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gauche.

BibTeX

@misc{gauche_2026,
  title = {gauche},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gauche},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}