as in inappropriate
not appropriate for a particular occasion or situation
an infelicitous comment on the weight of the guest of honor at the banquet
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Recent Examples of infelicitous
Notwithstanding infelicitous boasting, Trump is a man of his word who will scrupulously honor his oath of office.
—
Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 10 Nov. 2024
Even so, the impulse to nationalize the problem will have its own, infelicitous effects.
—Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
Film-school student Haynes always imitates better directors — Fassbinder’s social melodrama, Joseph Losey’s studies of decadence (pilfering the infelicitous piano score from Losey’s The Go-Between, from 1971).
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024
Dallas American politics lately feels like an endless game of—pardon the infelicitous word—delegitimation.
—Barton Swaim, wsj.com, 18 Apr. 2023
The New York bill would implement a concept called extended producer responsibility, an incredibly infelicitous recycling term.
—Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2021
That grid revision unfortunately resulted in some infelicitous words being added to the puzzle.
—New York Times, 3 Feb. 2020
Despite the infelicitous coincidence of the election date with Easter — which would normally have been expected to depress turnout — turnout actually ticked slightly upward from recent contests, to 67 percent.
—Amy Erica Smith, Vox, 2 Apr. 2018
As in video games, the action is lurid, hyperkinetic, and gruesomely violent, with nods to Grand Theft Auto and a comparably infelicitous treatment of the few women characters who show up.
—Chicago Reader, 12 Oct. 2017
Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 10 Nov. 2024
Even so, the impulse to nationalize the problem will have its own, infelicitous effects.
—Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
Film-school student Haynes always imitates better directors — Fassbinder’s social melodrama, Joseph Losey’s studies of decadence (pilfering the infelicitous piano score from Losey’s The Go-Between, from 1971).
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024
Dallas American politics lately feels like an endless game of—pardon the infelicitous word—delegitimation.
—Barton Swaim, wsj.com, 18 Apr. 2023
The New York bill would implement a concept called extended producer responsibility, an incredibly infelicitous recycling term.
—Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2021
That grid revision unfortunately resulted in some infelicitous words being added to the puzzle.
—New York Times, 3 Feb. 2020
Despite the infelicitous coincidence of the election date with Easter — which would normally have been expected to depress turnout — turnout actually ticked slightly upward from recent contests, to 67 percent.
—Amy Erica Smith, Vox, 2 Apr. 2018
As in video games, the action is lurid, hyperkinetic, and gruesomely violent, with nods to Grand Theft Auto and a comparably infelicitous treatment of the few women characters who show up.
—Chicago Reader, 12 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infelicitous
Adjective
-
An internal investigation found no evidence of inappropriate behavior with students, and McGann resigned from Lewisville ISD in May 2023, FitzPatrick said.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
2 Aug. 2025
-
After further studies and community meetings, city planners found three intersections to be inappropriate and dropped them from the plan.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 July 2025
Adjective
-
Intermittent fasting, for example, may be unsuitable for people with pre-existing conditions or irritable bowel syndrome.—
Desireé Oostland,
Vogue,
17 July 2025
-
While effective in commercial spheres, this approach to AI, which often involves a disregard for data privacy, is viewed as unsuitable for Washington.—
Dean DeBiase,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Adjective
-
But the hotel's logs also illustrate that the hotel was aware there were days near to when Alexis Williams used the pool that the water showed no chlorine or bromine and improper pH levels, the lawsuit contends.—
Keith Matheny,
Freep.com,
31 July 2025
-
Common violations for all six restaurants with scores under 80 included improper storage of food, food that was stored above the proper temperature, and unlabelled food or cleaning supplies, among other sanitary violations.—
Samara Gerstle,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 July 2025
Adjective
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Beyond access control, a problem that exists for enterprise AI—just like mainstream AI chatbots—is the potential for hallucinations or incorrect responses.—
Megan Poinski,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
-
Meanwhile, misclassification involves the deliberate and incorrect categorization of goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), presumably with the goal of obtaining a lower duty classification.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
30 July 2025
Adjective
-
Anxiety about your bowel habits may stem from the belief that there’s something wrong with them.—
Sarah Garone,
Health,
30 July 2025
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If the calculation is wrong, everything downstream—equipment selection, duct sizing, airflow balancing—will also be off.—
Brynn Cooksey,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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Things will become much clearer once Jenkins — who is unhappy with his current contract is currently sidelined with a back injury — begins practicing.—
Rob Reischel,
Forbes.com,
27 July 2025
-
Galino is unhappy with how Jimenez is running his territory, and thinks Tommy can help the cartel get into the oil business.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
27 July 2025
Adjective
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Colonel McCall ruled that a fifth defendant, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was mentally unfit to face trial, and severed him from the case.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
-
The station said years later, federal prosecutors tried to refute her claims of being medically unfit, arguing a surveillance video showed Austin walking in and out of a salon without help.—
Greg Norman,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Infelicitous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infelicitous. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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