"awkward, tactless," 1751 (Chesterfield), from French gauche "left" (15c., replacing senestre in that sense), originally "awkward, awry," from gauchir "turn aside, swerve," from Proto-Germanic *wankjan (source also of Old High German wankon, Old Norse vakka "to stagger, totter"), from PIE *weng- "to bend, curve" (see wink (v.)).
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