Improper

How to spell improper

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce improper

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does improper mean?

1. adjectiveNot in keeping with accepted standards of behaviour, conduct, or correctness.
2. adjectiveDescribing a fraction whose numerator is greater than or equal to its denominator.

Improper in a sentence

• The auditor flagged the improper use of company funds.

• The teacher asked the class to convert each improper fraction into a mixed number.

• Making that comment in the meeting was clearly improper.

• Seven over four is an improper fraction because the top exceeds the bottom.

Where does improper come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin improprius, meaning 'not proper' or 'unsuitable', formed from the negative prefix in- (here 'not') and proprius, which literally meant 'one's own' or 'belonging to oneself'. That root proprius gave Latin proprietas, the ancestor of both 'property' and 'propriety', so the idea of something being correct or fitting grew out of the idea of something rightfully belonging where it is. English took 'proper' through Old French in the 1300s, and 'improper' followed soon after, by the 1400s and 1500s, to describe behaviour or usage that does not belong or fit. A handy spelling reminder is that the prefix is im-, not in-, because the following p pulls the n toward an m sound; the same shift explains 'impossible' and 'impatient'. So the doubled idea sits in 'imp-' meeting 'proper', and keeping the single p of 'proper' intact is the key to spelling it.

How the word is built

• im- (not)
• proper (correct, fitting; from Latin proprius 'one's own, particular')