Words / C2

GOHSH/ɡəʊʃ/

Gauche means socially awkward, lacking tact (from French): a gauche remark, feel gauche. Awkward is everyday; tactless is close. Gosh is an exclamation. Left in French is gauche — the English sense is clumsiness, not handedness. Do not call a shy silence gauche unless it actually jarred the room.

Meaning

Socially awkward; lacking tact or polish (from French).

Examples

• “Asking about salary in the first minute felt gauche.”
• “Asking about salary in the first minute felt gauche, not bold.”
• “A gauche joke at a memorial is tactless; a quiet guest is not automatically gauche.”

Good to know

Socially clumsy. Everyday: awkward / tactless. Not French “left” in English prose. Not mere shyness.

Near in meaning

awkward

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