inopportune
adjEtymology From Latin inopportūnus. By surface analysis, in- + opportune.
1
Unsuitable for some particular purpose.
- That was a most inopportune spot for a picnic.
- "It appears I come at an inopportune time, madam," said he, "when my friend, Mr. Rochester, is from home; but I arrive from a very long journey, and I think I may presume so far on old and intimate acquaintance as to install myself here till he returns."1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter III, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 77:
2
Happening/occurring at an inconvenient or inappropriate time.
- The inopportune arrival of the bus cut short the interesting conversation.
- The object is to keep the yard operators apprised of main-line movements, so that they do not plan to occupy the main lines with activity into or out of the yard at an inopportune juncture.1962 October, G[eoffrey] Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—II”, in Modern Railways, page 170:
- Synonyms
- inappropriate, unfit, ill-timed, untimely
- Antonyms
- opportune, appropriate, fitting, timely
- Derived terms
- inopportunely, inopportuneness