inconvenient

[ in-kuhn-veen-yuhnt ]

adjective

1. not easily accessible or at hand:

   The phone is in an inconvenient place.

2. inopportune; untimely:

   an inconvenient time for a visit.

3. not suiting one's needs or purposes:

   The house has an inconvenient floor plan.

   Synonyms: bothersome, awkward, annoying

inconvenient

/ -ˈviːnɪənt; ˌɪnkənˈviːnjənt /

adjective

1. not convenient; troublesome, awkward, or difficult

Derived Forms

• ˌinconˈveniently, adverb

Other Words From

• incon·venient·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of inconvenient¹

1325–75; Middle English < Latin inconvenient- (stem of inconveniēns ) not suiting. See in- ³, convenient

Example Sentences

In his manifesto, which he titled “The Inconvenient Truth” — a seeming nod to Al Gore’s documentary about the climate crisis — he wrote that “water sheds around the country, especially in agricultural areas, are being depleted.”

From Salon

Some of that is a product of an educational system scrubbed clean of inconvenient history and basic civics lessons by conservative lobbyists and politicians.

From Salon

Like many of Harris’ media appearances, those events assured the former president steered well away from hectoring hosts and their inconvenient fact-checking.

From Los Angeles Times

Ron, a Phoenix voter who declined to give his last name, said his polling place did not have enough printer paper in 2020, which was inconvenient for voters and caused some to leave early.

From Los Angeles Times

The latter made his bones in the UK division of Rupert Murdoch’s lying machine as a Mr. Fixit, cleaning up the remnants of Murdoch’s phone-hacking scandal by deleting inconvenient emails and sowing the landscape with red herrings.

From Salon

Related Words

• annoying
• awkward
• cumbersome
• difficult
• disturbing
• embarrassing
• tiresome
• troublesome
• unwieldy