The principal meaning of gawky is clumsy or uncoordinated. But I also use it as the '-y' form of gawk, ie liable to gawk.
I've just been consulting the free dictionaries on google but none of them list 'gawky' as liable to gawk. Is that because I'm from another planet, or have others here encountered 'gawky' with this meaning?
cf talk, talky; preach, preachy
I don't think I have ever heard it used as "liable to gawk"..only ever as the principal meanings you mention
yeah, no help from me! lol
SunSeeker
Use it in a sentence.
When I entered the diner, I released a few psions - not enough to have them greeting me like an old friend, but enough for them not to be anxious or gawky at the presence of a complete stranger.
AJ
"liable to gawk" or anything similar didn't come to my mind when I read your sentence using "gawky". "Awkward" and "uncomfortable" did though...
I know, I know...still not helping ;)
SunSeeker
I know, I know...still not helping ;)
A failed experiment is still informative ;-)
ETA 828 SOL stories contain 'gawk '.
AJ
ETA 828 SOL stories contain 'gawk '.
but…
1,000 SOL stories contain "gawked"
and
1,000 SOL stories contain "gawking."
I happen to use "gawked" and "gawking" in my stories.
And a search using "any word" on "gawk, gawked, gawking" produces 1,000 stories. I couldn't find a search option where "gawk" would get a hit if it found "gawked" or "gawking".
I'm not an expert on searching, but some of the SOL facilities offer a 'whole words only' option. That's why I left a blank at the end of my exact match search.
I was trying to get a feel for how common the use of 'gawk' was as a verb. If, for cultural reasons, it was very rare, that might have explained why 'gawky' is unknown.
My desk dictionary has, for the first meaning of the '-y' suffix, the second usage as applied to verbs:
2. (from verbs) inclined to; apt to: sticky.
So my usage of gawky is defensible but probably not a good idea as few/no readers will recognise it.
AJ
enough for them not to be anxious or gawky at the presence of a complete stranger.
I think that should be "gawking."
'anxious or gawking' sounds awkward to me. I feel as though a second adjective would be better.
AJ
Rather than gawky, meaning liable to be gawked at, I would use gawkworthy.
In my intended sense, 'Gawky' means 'liable to gawk' not 'liable to be gawked at'.
AJ
I checked several dictionaries. Most listed gawky as an adjective with awkward and clumsy being the meanings.
The Merriam Webster dictionary indicated the word was first used in 1759. In a second dictionary, the entomology indicated that gawky can be used as a noun (e.g. He is gawky.)
Current usage is primarily as an adjective.
In a second dictionary, the entomology indicated that gawky can be used as a noun (e.g. He is gawky.)
I would have expected something more like
"Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant and the gawky; they too have their story."
AJ
In a second dictionary, the entomology indicated that gawky can be used as a noun
There seems to be a bug in that sentence. ;)
It seems possible, but rarely if ever used that way. Even OED seems uncertain. Its etymology is
Formed within English, by derivation.
< gawk n.1 (? or gawk v.) + ‑y suffix1.
Note the questionable formation in parenthesis. So it's formed from the verb "gawk" which means "To stare or gape stupidly."
The problem you're going to run in to here is that gawk is not a particularly common word, which in turn means that it isn't likely to have multiple forms*. It's simply not used often enough to go through mutations.
I'm having a bit of trouble finding the word lists I used to use, but according to Google's nGram viewer, "look" was at its lowest usage level in the 1930s at which time it was over 4,000 times more commonly used than "gawk". Even "ogle" is used more than gawk.
It is also worth noting that the word "gawky" does actually come from "gawk". Gawk means to gaze openly and stupidly (17th century), something is gawky if it is something you gawk at (18th century).
* In linguistics, a lemma is the base dictionary form of a given word, forms are its variations, and the lexeme is the underlying meaning that applies to all forms. For example, "look" is the lemma, "looking" is a form, and the lexeme is "to direct one's gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction" (Oxford Languages).
The problem you're going to run in to here is that gawk is not a particularly common word
I'm not going to pretend it is, although it may be more common in the UK than the US since I was brung up to use it.
Mind you, 829 SOL stories contain 'gawk ' (ETA 92 contain 'gawp '), and 1000 SOL stories contain gawking, so it can't be that rare in the US either.
AJ
so can't be that rare in the US
I'm in the U.S. and use "gawked" all the time (and "gawking" too).
My frequency of using "gawked" is probably third after "looked" and "stared." After that, maybe "glared," "glowered," and "studied" come next and then "ogled".
