Gawky means awkward and ungainly, especially in a young person. A gawky teenager, gawky limbs, gawky and shy.
It nearly always describes adolescence, and it is affectionate more often than cruel — the awkwardness is understood as a stage. The word comes from gawk, to stare stupidly, and the two senses share the idea of not knowing what to do with yourself.
1adjectivegawkyAwkward and ungainly, especially in a young person.
“At fourteen, he was shy and gawky and tripped over his own feet at the school dance.”
gawky is a quality of manner.
From gawk + -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA