impropriety

[im-pruh-prahy-i-tee]

See more synonyms for impropriety on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural im·pro·pri·e·ties for 4, 5.

the quality or condition of being improper; incorrectness.
inappropriateness; unsuitableness.
unseemliness; indecorousness.

an erroneous or unsuitable expression, act, etc.
an improper use of a word or phrase.

Origin of impropriety

From the Late Latin word improprietās, dating back to 1605–15. See im-², propriety

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for impropriety

indecency, goof, incorrectness, vulgarity, solecism, incongruity, blunder, vulgarism, slip, rudeness, gaffe, barbarism, indecorum, impudence, gaucherie, immodesty, inelegance

Examples from the Web for impropriety

Contemporary Examples of impropriety

In these two cases, something other than ideology was, at least ostensibly, at stake—qualifications or some kind of impropriety.
The Supreme Court’s Coming Paralysis
Jeff Greenfield
July 22, 2014
At some funds, the mere suggestion of impropriety can prove fatal, as investors flee.
The Insider-Trading Cloud Hanging Over SAC Capital’s Steven A. Cohen
Daniel Gross
November 27, 2012
John Barry on the lonely life of the general—and the early hints of impropriety.
Early Signs of General Petraeus’s Extramarital Affair
John Barry
November 11, 2012
So far Mitt Romney has run a careful, disciplined campaign that has avoided the slightest whiff of impropriety.
Romney Accepts Maximum Campaign Donation From Man Whose Company Owns Penthouse
Ben Jacobs
February 11, 2012
Hoover preached that even the appearance of impropriety must be avoided.
Hoover’s Secret Files
Ronald Kessler
August 2, 2011

Historical Examples of impropriety

It was not a wise thing to do, but her anger prevented her from seeing its impropriety.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
The impropriety of the whole proceeding had only struck her as she opened the door.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola
Madame, you see, despaired by now of controlling the impropriety of her niece's expressions.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
I think there is now no impropriety in stating that it is to her that the poem "Memories" refers.
Whittier-land
Samuel T. Pickard
There was, then, an impropriety in my living at Aix as I did?
Davenport Dunn, Volume 2 (of 2)
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for impropriety

impropriety

noun plural -ties

lack of propriety; indecency; indecorum
an improper act or use
the state of being improper

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impropriety

1610s, "quality or fact of being improper," from French impropriété (16c.), from Latin improprietas, from improprius (see improper). As "improper thing," 1670s.