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Added 10 October 2026

gauche

/ɡəʊʃ/ adjective

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about gauche at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Lacking social polish.
too gauche to leave the room when the conversation became intimate

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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