infelicity
Americannoun
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the quality or state of being unhappy; unhappiness.
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misfortune; bad luck.
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an unfortunate circumstance; misfortune.
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inaptness, inappropriateness, or awkwardness, as of action or expression.
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something inapt or infelicitous.
infelicities of style.
noun
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the state or quality of being unhappy or unfortunate
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an instance of bad luck or mischance; misfortune
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something, esp a remark or expression, that is inapt or inappropriate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of infelicity
1350–1400; Middle English infelicite < Latin infēlīcitās. See in- 3, felicity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A minor infelicity is the distractingly busy set by David Gallo.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
For a more complete and very funny deconstruction of its infelicity, read Jonathan Last’s riff in The Bulwark.
From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2020
This type of verbal infelicity underscores the limitations of automatic, computerized word and spelling-check mechanisms, whereby a word or words can slip through undetected, regardless of the context of usage, however inapposite.
From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2019
Along with Bush money and Bush connections, Jeb also inherited the Bushian infelicity with language.
From Slate • Feb. 21, 2016
“All our felicity or infelicity is founded on the nature of the object to which we are joined by love.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
