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
Nevertheless, on the contrary, she was always apologetic where Mary was concerned, and had always sought to conceal her shortcomings and domestic infelicity.
From The Seven Secrets by Le Queux, William
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.
