infelicitous
Americanadjective
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inapt, inappropriate, or awkward; malapropos.
an infelicitous remark.
-
not felicitous, happy, or fortunate; unhappy.
adjective
-
not felicitous; unfortunate
-
inappropriate or unsuitable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of infelicitous
First recorded in 1825–35; in- 3 + felicitous
Explanation
You can use the adjective infelicitous when something doesn't work quite right, whether it's a remark or a wrong turn down a dark street or an unfortunate outfit worn to a job interview. If the ultimate outcome is awkward or unhappy, it's infelicitous. It would be infelicitous to complain about the broken air conditioning in your Mercedes while volunteering at a homeless shelter. In other words, it would be dreadfully inappropriate. Since the 1530s, infelicitous has been used to mean the opposite of felicitous, meaning "happy," which comes from the Latin word for "happiness," felicitas.
Vocabulary lists containing infelicitous
Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
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Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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Pay Attention, Carter Jones
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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.
It struck me as infelicitous at best that Aster’s “hero” should be “subjected” to the very sort of inner-city crime fantasy that so often misrepresents urban life in American pop culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
An author of previous books on Wall Street, the Mafia and Ayn Rand, Weiss is sure-footed here, stepping around fading file boxes of legal material, with only occasional flights into infelicitous zoological metaphor.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2022
The Times quoted him as describing his experience of applying for the role as an "infelicitous dalliance" with "the Blob" - a term sometimes used to refer to the Whitehall establishment.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2021
The other actors—many, like Dumezweni, holdovers from the show’s original London cast—struggle bravely with the script’s infelicitous mix of action and exposition, but they handle the big emotional moments like pros.
From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2018
The copy editor for the series, our last line of defense against the stupid mistake or infelicitous phrase, was Joe Rogers.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
