What's the difference between awkward and quirky?

Awkward


Definition:

  • (a.) Wanting dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments; not dexterous; without skill; clumsy; wanting ease, grace, or effectiveness in movement; ungraceful; as, he was awkward at a trick; an awkward boy.
  • (a.) Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing.
  • (a.) Perverse; adverse; untoward.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But she has struggled – quite awkwardly – to articulate her evolution on same-sex marriage, and has left environmental activists wondering what her exact energy policy is.
  • (2) Once installed, the alliance will become an awkward, obstructionist presence, committed, in the words of the Northern League's Matteo Salvini, to "a different Europe, based on work and peoples and not in the one based on servitude to the euro and banks, ready to let us die from immigration and unemployment".
  • (3) There is no getting around the awkward fact that in Bristol West Stephen Williams represents a constituency of 82,503 while his neighbouring Labour MP in Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy, speaks for 69,347 constituents.
  • (4) Our team of reporters have spent the last week on an intensive bikram yoga course in order to get themselves into the rather awkward position of having their ears to the ground, their eyes to the skies and their fingers on the pulse.
  • (5) Jesús Navas played a one-two with Touré down the right and from his awkward cross the England squad goalkeeper fumbled the ball inside his six-yard area from where Fernando scored with an overhead kick as dextrous as it was surprising.
  • (6) It's straight at Stockdale, though the keeper needs two attempts to get the ball under control in these awkward conditions.
  • (7) And then the ball is in Caballero's hands.At the other end, Courtois beats away an awkward, bouncing drive from long range.
  • (8) That is an awkward, indeed risky, time to be contemplating takeoff.
  • (9) Despite his insistence that comedy should be colour-blind, Amos admits black audiences prefer the black circuit, where "you know the material isn't going to be racist or make you feel awkward, where you feel like you belong".
  • (10) And yet for all his anti-establishment credentials, Mr Galloway is as practised as any of his New Labour enemies at squirming away from awkward questions.
  • (11) Our calculations show that the biological inactive O-methyl-delta 8-THC orients with its long axis parallel to the lipid acyl chains, whereas the psychoactive cannabinoids assume "awkward" orientations in which the hydroxyl groups are pointing towards the bilayer interface, presumably to maximize the amphipathic interaction with the membrane.
  • (12) Why have they not done away with their own bodies and hair and all their awkward woman-type things?
  • (13) And I said: 'Look, man, I just got here, if it's OK, I don't wanna just walk in and take a picture – it'd make me feel awkward.'
  • (14) The SBS, in association with fluoroscopy, permits simple surgical implementation with accurate localization and extraction of foreign bodies, with the elimination of awkward, unpredictable, and time consuming retrieval techniques.
  • (15) What some people saw in this mistake was again a cultural bias against black art, unconscious though it may be This is why this mix-up mattered more than a bit of onstage awkwardness.
  • (16) April 16, 2014 The hesitancy – or unwillingness – of Ukrainian troops to use their weapons has produced multiple awkward confrontations with civilian crowds Wednesday, including one in Pchyolkino south of Kratamorsk, which seems still to be unresolved after an hours-long standoff.
  • (17) Sitting opposite her as she eats croissants and fixes on espresso it is hard to equate the immaculate perfection of Guillem the performer, in bobbed wig and suspenders last night, with the awkwardly engaging and somewhat bed-headed Guillem in skinny jeans and T-shirt this morning.
  • (18) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Donald Trump and Theresa May awkwardly hold hands at White House
  • (19) Even that took a finely weighted pass and an awkward stretching first touch from two very fine technicians.
  • (20) What's more, his genial stiffness and shy self-awareness give him a kind of awkward dignity compared to the preening smugness of Cruz.

Quirky


Definition:

  • (a.) Full of quirks; tricky; as, a quirky lawyer.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) She wants to keep it private, but admits to collecting younger artists, often "sillier, obscure, quirky things".
  • (2) The knowledgeable staff will happily explain the merits of elusive Belgian beers with quirky names such as Jambe de Bois and Mad Helen.
  • (3) His Star Trek reboots are dispiriting: the quirky and beloved sci-fi franchise pureed into stimulating but unremarkable blockbuster entertainment, distinguished mainly by caricatures of iconic characters that are more branding than interpretation.
  • (4) The use of social media is something many people take for granted with family and friends but what is considered quirky or funny within private space can seem very different once leaked into the public domain.
  • (5) It’s operated by a young, talented photographer called Bheki Dube and his influence is everywhere – the hostel decor is fantastic – think industrial-chic warehouse apartment with lots of quirky touches.
  • (6) Some may want a book that offers some escape – in which case the quirky English humour of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle may do the trick, or a pick-me-up dose of HE Bates 's The Darling Buds of May .
  • (7) One could be forgiven for associating director Mike Mills with the word "quirky".
  • (8) Hobsbawm Macaulay received an unusual amount of press attention for a PR start-up, and was portrayed as a rather quirky high-minded experiment, but in fact the agency was attuned to where power increasingly lay in Britain, with the media, the expanding cultural and charitable industries, and the then rising New Labour establishment.
  • (9) Everyone knows about the Humber bridge, but there's some really quirky, unusual stuff that goes on that doesn't happen anywhere else."
  • (10) From being a quirky choice, diesel went mainstream in Europe.
  • (11) Upstairs from the shop, full of quirky impulse buys such as Gemma Correll's Pugs not Drugs tote bags and Emily Warren's papier-mâché busts, there's studio and workshop space, with screen-printing equipment and sewing machines for regular workshops of up to six people.
  • (12) Whitehall eventually intervened, with a government inspector ruling: "Any system of control must make some small place for the dynamic, the unexpected, the downright quirky."
  • (13) YouTube stars are not only entertaining us through their quirky videos and updates but building long lasting relationships with their fans.” The three channels chosen for the company’s first YouTuber-led advertising push in the UK are certainly popular.
  • (14) Virgin would disagree, pointing to a doubling of passenger numbers during its ownership of the franchise and quirky marketing campaigns that helped make it the most well-known rail brand in Britain.
  • (15) His Green Book , a short work setting out his philosophy, has pages and pages dedicated to his quirky views on women, underpinned by a belief that we just have to admit to our biological limitations.
  • (16) In his airy new office, Cable says his views have evolved, but refuses to sit in the quirky modern chair shipped in by his predecessor, Lord Mandelson.
  • (17) But plenty of quirky facts and peculiar tidbits turned up as well.
  • (18) Perhaps led by street fashion and the ever-growing success of fashion bloggers, who have been pushing back to the art-student-meets-festivalgoer look for some time, designers are following suit and demanding quirky models to showcase their clothes.
  • (19) Sandy breaking out of the compound BB3 Sandy's insistence on his quirkiness got rather wearing, so it was just as well he made a bid for escape, with his new best friend Alex wailing, "Be careful, Sandy, be careful!"
  • (20) He describes Seeed as an “open hardware facilitator” – if you have an idea for a quirky product, he can help you make it.