ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Infelicitous

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˌɪn.fəˈlɪs.ɪ.təs/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Infelicitous is an adjective meaning Unhappy or unfortunate.

Meaning

Unhappy or unfortunate.

More Meanings

  1. Inappropriate or awkward; not well said, expressed, or done.
  2. (linguistics) Of a sentence or utterance: not semantically and pragmatically coherent.

Example Sentences

"Now, you've got just grounds for shooting me," he said gaily, and instantly regretted his infelicitous remark.
If leading a "dog's life" be considered a peculiar phase of human misery, the life of a Boys' Dog is still more infelicitous.
My last run this month is an amazing performance of an "A2/3" Pacific, No. 60524, Herringbone (could there possibly be a more infelicitous name for a locomotive than this, let alone for the unhappy horse which first had to bear it?), […].

Synonyms for infelicitous

Depending on context, synonyms include sad, lamentable, unlucky, cumbersome, inept, unfortunate.

Antonyms for infelicitous

Common opposites include felicitous.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include unfortunate, inept, clumsy, cumbersome, awkward, ill-chosen.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.