Inappropriate

How to spell inappropriate

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce inappropriate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inappropriate mean?

1. adjectiveNot suitable or proper in the particular circumstances.

Inappropriate in a sentence

• Wearing beach sandals to the funeral felt deeply inappropriate.

• The manager apologised for the inappropriate comments made during the meeting.

Where does inappropriate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the Latin proprius, meaning 'one's own' or 'particular to oneself', the same root that gives us 'property' and 'proper'. From proprius came the Latin verb appropriare, 'to make one's own', formed with the prefix ad- ('to' or 'toward'), which assimilated to ap- before the p. English borrowed 'appropriate' in the 1400s, first as a verb meaning 'to take as one's own' and later as an adjective meaning 'suitable' or 'fitting for the purpose'. The negative form 'inappropriate' simply adds the Latin prefix in-, meaning 'not', to produce the sense 'not suitable'. The spelling trap lives in the seams: the single n of in-, the doubled p where ap- meets propri, and the unstressed -ate ending that the ear tends to swallow.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• ap- (to, from Latin ad-)
• propri (one's own, from proprius)
• -ate (adjective suffix)