inconvenient

[ in-kuhn-veen-yuhnt ]

adjective

1. not easily accessible or at hand:

   The phone is in an inconvenient place.

2. inopportune; untimely:

   an inconvenient time for a visit.

3. not suiting one's needs or purposes:

   The house has an inconvenient floor plan.

   Synonyms: bothersome, awkward, annoying

inconvenient

/ ˌɪnkənˈviːnjənt; -ˈviːnɪənt /

adjective

1. not convenient; troublesome, awkward, or difficult

Derived Forms

• ˌinconˈveniently, adverb

Other Words From

• incon·venient·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of inconvenient¹

1325–75; Middle English < Latin inconvenient- (stem of inconveniēns ) not suiting. See in- ³, convenient

Example Sentences

Crowds are inconvenient but not the raging inconvenience everyone craves at the Super Bowl.

From Washington Post

When confronted with something inconvenient or troublesome in their midst — particularly such conspiracy theories — the stock response is increasingly to shrug it off or claim ignorance, no matter how implausibly.

From Washington Post

If they happen to find something that doesn’t work or is inconvenient, it is not a bad thing.

From Search Engine Watch

Unfortunately, our species has a disturbing tendency to “surrender” animals to shelters when it is inconvenient to keep them.

From Ozy

Not only is this inconvenient for users, but maintaining dozens of separate websites is an administrative headache.

From Ars Technica

It is also true—and this is inconvenient—that the US had not been innocent in the decades leading up to 9/11.

From The Daily Beast

His latest book is An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers The Armenians?

From The Daily Beast

It is a horrific and inconvenient truth, but paying ransoms to free hostages invariably worsens the problem in the long-term.

From The Daily Beast

He has struggled to keep his marriage together after confronting some inconvenient truths about himself.

From The Daily Beast

A wine critic friend of mine asked for an interview with the winemaker but was told it was “inconvenient.”

From The Daily Beast

The fact is, that it is somewhat inconvenient to carry books in such regions, and I did not think of bringing a Bible.

From Project Gutenberg

Aunt Ri was a privileged character, but her logical method of questioning was inconvenient.

From Project Gutenberg

When it is inconvenient to stain before the smears have dried, capsules can be shown by the method of Hiss.

From Project Gutenberg

The Bell and Tainter machine was operated by a storage battery and this was an inconvenient and expensive form of power.

From Project Gutenberg

The old method, by which a note was named from its relative place in the Perfect System, must evidently have become inconvenient.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoying
• awkward
• cumbersome
• difficult
• disturbing
• embarrassing
• tiresome
• troublesome
• unwieldy