infelicity

[in-fuh-lis-i-tee]

noun

plural

infelicities 

1. the quality or state of being unhappy; unhappiness.

2. misfortune; bad luck.

3. an unfortunate circumstance; misfortune.

4. inaptness, inappropriateness, or awkwardness, as of action or expression.

5. something inapt or infelicitous.

   infelicities of style.

infelicity

/ ˌɪnfɪˈlɪsɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being unhappy or unfortunate

2. an instance of bad luck or mischance; misfortune

3. something, esp a remark or expression, that is inapt or inappropriate

Word History and Origins

Origin of infelicity¹

1350–1400; Middle English infelicite < Latin infēlīcitās. See in- ³, felicity

Example Sentences

The characters, with their insistence on self-determination, feel too modern, and there are a few infelicities, like the idea that “The Communist Manifesto,” first translated into English toward the end of 1850, would circulate onboard.

Read more on New York Times

Then there’s the error-prone syntax — infelicities in editing and writing that add up quickly.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For a more complete and very funny deconstruction of its infelicity, read Jonathan Last’s riff in The Bulwark.

Read more on New York Times

And I doubt they spent any time correcting whatever infelicities of my pen they found among my scribbled pages.

Read more on The Guardian

Everything about me is out of proportion — including my peanut-sized head — so I face the choice of billowing, dowdy garments or tighter clothes that sometimes cruelly expose my physical infelicities.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• agony 
• anguish 
• bereavement 
• despair 
• discomfort 
• gloom 
• heartache 
• heartbreak 
• melancholy 
• misery 
• mourning 
• pain 
• regret 
• remorse 
• sadness 
• sorrow 
• trouble 
• unhappiness www.thesaurus.com
• woe 
• worry