Clownish vs Gawky - What's the difference?
clownish | gawky | Related terms |
Pertaining to peasants; rustic.
Uncultured, boorish; rough, coarse.
*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.1:
*:Large were his limbes, and terrible his looke, / And in his clownish hand a sharp bore speare he shooke.
*1815 , (Jane Austen), Emma , :
*:"He is very plain, undoubtedly--remarkably plain:--but that is nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish , so totally without air. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility."
Like a circus clown; comical, ridiculous.
* 2014 , Jacob Steinberg, "
*2005 , (Laura Barton), The Guardian , 14 May 2005:
*:Indeed, when in close quarters to Rooney, it must prove almost irresistible to stick a plastic moustache and silly clownish shoes on the potato-headed fool.
awkward, ungainly; lacking grace or dexterity in movement
Clownish is a related term of gawky.
As adjectives the difference between clownish and gawky
is that clownish is pertaining to peasants; rustic while gawky is awkward, ungainly; lacking grace or dexterity in movement.clownish
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals", The Guardian , 9 March 2014:
- Once again, City's defending was clownish . James McArthur drove into the area on the left and pulled a low cross towards the far post, where the horribly timid Gaël Clichy allowed Perch to bundle the ball past Costel Pantilimon.