inconvenient
Americanadjective
-
not easily accessible or at hand.
The phone is in an inconvenient place.
-
inopportune; untimely.
an inconvenient time for a visit.
-
not suiting one's needs or purposes.
The house has an inconvenient floor plan.
- Synonyms:
- bothersome, awkward, annoying
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inconvenient
1325–75; Middle English < Latin inconvenient- (stem of inconveniēns ) not suiting. See in- 3, convenient
Explanation
Inconvenient things are difficult or annoying to do. If someone asks you to help move a couch on a Saturday when you have tickets to a game, that's an inconvenient request. If you have to go to the bathroom very badly just as a test is starting, that's inconvenient. If the movie projector breaks in the middle of a movie, that's inconvenient. Other times, things are inconvenient just because they're kind of a pain. It’s inconvenient of your mom to ask you to do chores just as you're ready to go out with friends. Inconvenient things get in the way of what we really want to do.
Vocabulary lists containing inconvenient
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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.
Its restaurants remain closed on Sundays, including locations where that choice may seem commercially inconvenient like airports and college campuses.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Trauma is not the only teacher who informs us that our bodily cues are inconvenient, untrustworthy, or dangerous.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
Some 28 weeks pregnant and just home from Australia, she called the move "bit inconvenient" due to the fact she was only 15 minutes down the road from Daisy Hill.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
His dedication to spending time in Mexico, while inconvenient for your relationship, demonstrates that he knows how to manage and nurture his own happiness and isn’t relying on you to satisfy that need.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
It's funny how his fatherhood kicked in at the most inconvenient times.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
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.
