Onfelicitous

Onfelicitous is an extremely rare English adjective that denotes something not felicitous, meaning inappropriate, ill-suited, or ill-timed for a given situation. Because the term is exceedingly uncommon today, it is often treated as an archaism or a variant spelling rather than a distinct, widely used word.

Etymology and status: The word appears to be formed by prefixing a negative element to felicitus or felicitous, but its exact historical development is poorly documented. In contemporary dictionaries, onfelicitous is rarely listed and is generally considered obsolete or marginal. In practice, writers who encounter the form usually prefer unfelicitous or simply describe the situation as inappropriate or ill-timed.

Usage notes: When encountered, onfelicitous tends to appear in older literature, linguistic discussions, or playful coinages rather than in standard contemporary prose. For most modern purposes, substitutes such as unfelicitous, inopportune, inappropriate, or ill-timed are clearer and more widely understood.

Examples: In historical contexts, one might find phrases described as onfelicitous in commentary or annotation. In modern editing, a sentence such as “The onfelicitous remark disrupted the proceedings” would likely be rewritten as “The ill-timed remark disrupted the proceedings” or “The remark was inappropriate for the occasion.”

See also: Felicitous, Unfelicitous, Inopportune, Inappropriate.