incommodious

American  

[in-kuh-moh-dee-uhs] / ˌɪn kəˈmoʊ di əs /

adjective

1. inconvenient, as not affording sufficient space or room; uncomfortable.

   incommodious hotel accommodations.

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incommodious British  

/ ˌɪnkəˈməʊdɪəs /

adjective

1. insufficiently spacious; cramped

2. troublesome or inconvenient

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Other Word Forms

• incommodiously adverb
• incommodiousness noun

Etymology

Origin of incommodious

First recorded in 1545–55; in- ³ + commodious

Explanation

Incommodious is an adjective that describes something that is uncomfortable or inconvenient, especially by being awkwardly small. If you had visions of a roomy office coming with your new promotion, guess again. The new incommodious space barely has room for a desk and a chair! Incommodious is made up of the Latin root words in, meaning "not," and commodious from commodiosus, meaning "useful or convenient." Because commodious in English has a meaning of roomy and spacious, incommodious sometimes takes the opposite meaning of small and cramped. However, incommodious can refer to anything that is inconvenient. You may have to make an incommodious trip to the dentist if you break a tooth.

Example Sentences

The industry first consolidated and then, under the auspices of Harold Wilson and Roy Jenkins, started its collapse into the relatively incommodious entity it is today.

From The Guardian • Aug. 29, 2012

Within, the stockade was cramped, some five hundred men gathered in a small and incommodious yard between tents.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

The arrangements for these objects were at once clumsy and incommodious.

From Memorials of the Sea My Father: Being Records of the Adventurous Life of the Late William Scoresby, Esq. of Whitby by Scoresby, William

The path was well beaten, but rendered incommodious by the large stones which lay along it.

From Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. II by Mackenzie, Alexander

Internally the house was incommodious and crowded to uncomfortable excess, and its surroundings externally were desolate and lonesome.

From Humours of Irish Life by Various