Standard Lemma guide

inapposite

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • US: /ɪnˈæpəzɪt/

1

adj

Meaning 1

inappropriate, not suitable for the situation

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1817, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria This remark, so ludicrously inapposite to, or rather, incongruous with, the purpose, for which I was known to have visited Birmingham, ... produced an involuntary and general burst of laughter;

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

of an inappropriate or misapplied nature

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: out of place

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English in- English apposite English inapposite From in- + apposite.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: неподходящ (nepodhodjašt) — inappropriate
  • Bulgarian: неуместен (neumesten) — inappropriate
  • German: unangemessen — inappropriate
  • Swedish: olämplig — inappropriate
  • Swedish: opassande — inappropriate