inopportune

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪnˌɑpərˈtun/ UK /ɪnˈɒpətjuːn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
occurring at an unsuitable or inconvenient time

The phone rang at the most inopportune moment of the speech.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · occurring at an unsuitable... untimely unseasonableill-timedunsuitable inconvenient unfavorable

Opposites

opportune timely convenient apt

Word family

Derived forms inopportunelyinopportuneness

Related forms opportune opportunity importune

Simplified etymology

Inopportune belongs to a word family associated with Latin portus, “harbour,” and Portunus, the god who protected harbours. The absence of the safety and calm linked with his protection produced the sense “troublesome” or “bringing problems.”

Etymology

From Latin inopportunus ('unsuitable, inconvenient'), from in- ('not') + opportunus ('fit, timely'), originally a nautical term meaning '(driving) toward the harbor', from ob ('toward') + portus ('harbor, port').

in- Latin opportunus Latin portus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# inopportune

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˌɑpərˈtun/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈɒpətjuːn/

## Meanings
1. occurring at an unsuitable or inconvenient time

## Examples
- The phone rang at the most inopportune moment of the speech.

## Synonyms
- untimely
- unseasonable
- ill-timed
- unsuitable
- inconvenient
- unfavorable

## Antonyms
- opportune
- timely
- convenient
- apt

## Derived Forms
- inopportunely
- inopportuneness

## Related Forms
- opportune
- opportunity
- importune

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: in-
- Root: opportunus
- Root: portus

## Etymology
From Latin inopportunus ('unsuitable, inconvenient'), from in- ('not') + opportunus ('fit, timely'), originally a nautical term meaning '(driving) toward the harbor', from ob ('toward') + portus ('harbor, port').

## AI Etymology
Inopportune comes from Latin inopportunus ('unsuitable, inconvenient'), from in- ('not') + opportunus ('fit, timely'), originally a nautical term meaning '(driving) toward the harbor', from ob ('toward') + portus ('harbor, port'). The etymological trail includes Latin in-, Latin opportunus, and Latin portus. As an adjective, inopportune means occurring at an unsuitable or inconvenient time. The same family is visible in derived forms such as inopportunely and inopportuneness and related forms such as opportune, opportunity, and importune. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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