Persnickety

Definition: (from dictionary.com)
-adjective
1. informal. overparticular; fussy
2. informal. snobbish or having the aloof attitude of a snob
3. informal. requiring painstaking care

Examples:
"That cheerleader is so persnickety about her hair."
"Don't be so persnickety about studying for that exam - you're going to fail anyway."

Origin: (from etymonline.com)
"1889, alteration of pernickety"

Awkwardness rating: 3

Persnickety? Is that a candy bar? (cdeminski.files.wordpress.com)

Coagulate

Suggested by Karen R.

Definition: (from dictionary.com)
-verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to change from a fluid into a thickened mass; curdle; congeal
2. biology. (of blood) to form a clot
3. physical chemistry. (of colloidal particles) to flocculate or cause to flocculate by adding an electrolyte to an electrostatic colloid

Examples:
"My friend left out the milk for so long it coagulated."
"You have to wait for the jello to coagulate before you eat it."

Origin: (from etymonline.com)
"early 15c., from Latin coagulatus, past participle of coagulare 'to cause to curdle,' from cogere 'to curdle, collect' (see cogent). Earlier coagule, c.1400, from Middle French coaguler."

Awkwardness rating: 4

Delicious coagulation. (momontimeout.com)

Lallygagging

Definition: (from dictionary.com)
-verb (used without object)
1. informal. to spend time idly; loaf

Examples:
"I really should stop lallygagging on Awkward Words Blog and study for my exam."
"One of my favorite activities is to procrastinate by lallygagging on Facebook."

Origin: (from etymonline.com)
"'dawdle, dally,' 1862, lallygag, American English, perhaps from dialectal lolly 'tongue' + gag 'deceive, trick.'"

Awkwardness rating: 6

Garfield knows how to lallygag properly. (dioclese.blogspot.com )

Higgledy-piggledy

Definition: (from dictionary.com)
-adverb
1. in a jumbled, confused, or disorderly manner; helter-skelter

Examples:
"They picked up the trash scattered higgledy-piggledy across the floor after the party."
"She acted all higgledy-piggledy after the soccer ball hit her in the head so we took her to the emergency room."

Origin: (from etymonline.com)
"'confusedly, hurriedly,' 1590s, a 'vocal gesture' [OED] probably formed from pig and the animal's suggestions of mess and disorder. Reduplications in the h-/p- pattern are common (e.g. hanky-panky, hocus-pocus, hinch(y)-pinch(y), an obsolete children's game, attested from c.1600)."

Awkwardness rating: 9

The leftovers spread higgledy-piggledy after Mardi Gras. (vi.sualize.us)

Dynamo

Definition: (from dictionary.com)
-noun
1. an electric generator, especially for direct current
2. an energetic, hardworking, forceful person

Examples:
"He was a dynamo in the kitchen - no food left unless it was cooked to perfection."
"Three hours of practice each day makes her the only dynamo in underwater basket weaving in the world."

Origin: (from etymonline.com)
"1882, short for dynamo-machine, from German dynamoelektrischemaschine 'dynamo-electric machine,' coined 1867 by its inventor, German electrical engineer Werner Siemans (1816-1892), from Greek dynamis 'power.'"

Awkwardness rating: 4

Gordon Ramsay is the ultimate dynamo in the kitchen. (caffevita.com)