malapropos

American  

[mal-ap-ruh-poh] / ˌmæl æp rəˈpoʊ /

adjective

1. inappropriate; out of place; inopportune; untimely.

   a malapropos remark.

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adverb

1. inappropriately; inopportunely.

malapropos British  

/ ˌmælæprəˈpəʊ /

adjective

1. of an inappropriate or misapplied nature or kind

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adverb

1. in an inappropriate way or manner

noun

1. something inopportune or inappropriate

Etymology

Origin of malapropos

First recorded in 1660–70, malapropos is from French mal à propos “badly (suited) to the purpose”

Explanation

It would be malapropos to wear full clown makeup to your cousin's formal wedding. In other words, it wouldn't be appropriate. Use the adjective malapropos to describe something that is awkwardly unsuitable for the situation or setting at hand. Telling jokes at a funeral or bringing your pet piglet to tea at the Queen's castle would both be highly malapropos. The word comes from the French phrase mal à propos, literally "badly for the purpose." As it's French, you don't pronounce the final s.

Example Sentences

Johnnie Green chose this malapropos moment for reminding the officers of the reason for the coming to the house.

From The Big-Town Round-Up by Raine, William MacLeod

She took, in this malapropos manoeuvre, the same delight that a child experiences through the consciousness of being engaged in some mischievous wrong.

From With the Procession by Fuller, Henry Blake

This malapropos discovery, materially diminished the pleasure we had before experienced, on first seeing a new part of the continent.

From Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea. by Stokes, John Lort

On the other hand, never express dissatisfaction with a response, however absurd or malapropos it may be.

From The Measurement of Intelligence An Explanation of and a Complete Guide for the Use of the Stanford Revision and Extension of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale by Cubberley, Ellwood Patterson

Never! nobody ever does; I am a proverb and a by-word for my malapropos speeches.

From Nancy by Broughton, Rhoda