inopportune

adj

"inopportune" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“inopportune” is uncommon English (frequency #59,468 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,468
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unsuitable for some particular purpose.

Corpus desk

Index EN-inopportune · inopportune · English

inopportune · rank #59,468 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,468
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH ingle

Nearest frequency peer: ingle (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “inopportune”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “inopportune” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for inopportune
PropertyValue
Headwordinopportune
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Frequency rank#59,468
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “inopportune” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).inopportunefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “ingle” (#59,467), “inelastic” (#59,466), “IoW” (#59,471). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “inopportune” is #59,468. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

inopportune is uncommon English at frequency #59,468 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for inopportune, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin inopportūnus. By surface analysis, in- + opportune. The correct English form is inopportune, spelled I-N-O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unsuitable for some particular purpose.
  2. 2
    Happening/occurring at an inconvenient or inappropriate time.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how inopportune appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. That was a most inopportune spot for a picnic.
  2. "It appears I come at an inopportune time, madam," said he, "when my friend, Mr. Rochester, is from home; but I arrive from a very long journey, and I think I may presume so far on old and intimate acquaintance as to install myself here till he returns."

Etymology

From Latin inopportūnus. By surface analysis, in- + opportune.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "inopportune"?
"inopportune" is spelled I-N-O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-E.
What does "inopportune" mean?
As an adjective, "inopportune" means: Unsuitable for some particular purpose.
What is the origin of the word "inopportune"?
From Latin inopportūnus. By surface analysis, in- + opportune. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "inopportune", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list