infelicitous

infelicitous

English

WOTD – 7 April 2010

Etymology

From in- +‎ felicitous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.fəˈlɪs.ɪ.təs/, /ˌɪn.fɪˈlɪs.ɪ.təs/, /ˌɪn.fɛlˈɪs.ɪ.təs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.fəˈlɪs.ɪ.təs/, /ˌɪn.fəˈlɪs.ə.təs/

Adjective

infelicitous (comparative more infelicitous, superlative most infelicitous)

1. Unhappy or unfortunate.
   • 1973, Bret Harte, "A Boy's Dog" in Mrs. Skaggs's Husbands and Other Sketches:

     If leading a "dog's life" be considered a peculiar phase of human misery, the life of a Boys' Dog is still more infelicitous.

2. Inappropriate or awkward; not well said, expressed, or done.
   • 1909, William MacLeod Raine, Ridgway of Montana, ch. 24:

     "Now, you've got just grounds for shooting me," he said gaily, and instantly regretted his infelicitous remark.

Synonyms

• (unhappy): See Thesaurus:sad or Thesaurus:lamentable
• (unlucky): See Thesaurus:unlucky

Derived terms

• infelicitously
• infelicitousness

Translations

unhappy or unfortunate

Bulgarian: злощастен (bg) (zloštasten) Catalan: infeliç (ca) m or f, desgraciat Danish: uheldig Finnish: onneton (fi), epäonninen French: infortuné (fr)

Norwegian: ulykkelig, uheldig Polish: nieszczęsny (pl), niefortunny (pl), nieudany (pl) m Russian: несчастли́вый (ru) m (nesčastlívyj), несча́стный (ru) m (nesčástnyj) Spanish: infortunado (es), desventurado (es), desgraciado (es), infeliz (es), desdichado

inappropriate or awkward; not well said, expressed, or done

Bulgarian: злополучен (bg) (zlopolučen), неудачен (bg) (neudačen) Catalan: maldestre (ca), inadequat, impropi Danish: uheldig Finnish: onneton (fi), surkea (fi) French: malheureux (fr), maladroit (fr), inadéquat (fr), gauche (fr)

Norwegian: uheldig Russian: неуме́стный (ru) m (neuméstnyj), неподходя́щий (ru) m (nepodxodjáščij), неуда́чный (ru) m (neudáčnyj) Spanish: torpe (es), impropio (es), aciago (es), inadecuado (es)