contretemps
nounUK /ˈkɒn.tɹə.tɑ̃ŋ/ · US /ˈkɑːn.tɹə.tɑ̃/
Etymology Borrowed from French contretemps.
1
An unforeseen, inopportune, or embarrassing event.
- ...and said "she had been the most efficient friend of the charity;" and whether a whisper that had gone forth respecting her contretemps with the strange man was spread, or it had fortunately been so well managed by the Count as to have escaped observation...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 2:
- "I see that you are a born American citizen--and an earlier knowledge of that fact would have prevented this little contretemps. You are aware, Mr. Hoffman, that your name is German?"1896, Bret Harte, The Indiscretion of Elsbeth:
4 more examples
- What a strange contretemps! Its suddenness left me temporarily speechless; the embarrassment of Duare was only too obvious. Yet it was that unusual paradox, a happy contretemps--for me at least.1932, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter XII, in Pirates of Venus, published 1934:
- Mrs. Post was the center of a notable contretemps when she spilled a spoonful of berries at a dinner of the Gourmet Society here in 1938.1960 June 13, “Emily Post Is Dead Here at 86; Writer was Arbiter of Etiquette”, in New York Times:
- The small flap over the pronunciation of her name was but the first, and the least, of the contretemps of the succeeding session.1991, Rebecca Goldstein, The Dark Sister, Penguin Books, published 1993, page 37:
- It won't rank with the doping scandals in track and field and baseball's steroid controversy but the Rose Cup race had its own little contretemps last year.2004 June 13, Sunday Oregonian:
2
Fencing, Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War An ill-timed pass.