Although it doesn’t mean anything sinister, gauche is one of several words (including sinister) with ties to old suspicions and negative associations relating to the left side and use of the left …

If it was gauche, the audience complained or praised at will just as they do today in non-classical concert experiences.

Use the word gauche when you want to call something tacky, graceless, tactless, rude, boorish, or awkward and foolish. Have you just pointed out someone's misuse of this word? Oh dear, how …

Definition of gauche adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Dec 7, 2025 · Gauche replaced the original Latin-derived word for "left", senestre, in the sixteenth century. Compare Walloon gåtche.

gauche (ɡəʊʃ) adj lacking ease of manner; tactless [C18: French: awkward, left, from Old French gauchir to swerve, ultimately of Germanic origin; related to Old High German wankōn to stagger]

gauche, adj. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary

GAUCHE definition: lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless. See examples of gauche used in a sentence.

gauche′ly, adv. gauche′ness, n. inept, clumsy, maladroit; coarse, gross, uncouth.

When someone is characterized as gauche, it implies that their behavior or actions are perceived as unsophisticated, clumsy, or inappropriate within a given social context.