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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of inappropriate in English

inappropriate
adjective
uk
/ˌɪn.əˈprəʊ.pri.ət/ us
/ˌɪn.əˈproʊ.pri.ət/
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C1
unsuitable:
inappropriate for His casual behaviour was wholly inappropriate for such a formal occasion.
it is inappropriate to do something I enjoyed the joke but felt it was inappropriate to laugh.
it is inappropriate for someone to do something I think it would be inappropriate for you to invite her to a party so soon after her husband's death.
Synonyms
improper (WRONG) formal
irregular (RULE) formal
unacceptable
unbecoming
ungentlemanly
unladylike
unprofessional
unsuitable
Opposite
appropriate
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Unsuitable and unacceptable
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Related words

inappropriately
inappropriateness
(Definition of inappropriate from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

inappropriate | American Dictionary

inappropriate
adjective
us
/ˌɪn·əˈproʊ·pri·ət/
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unsuitable, esp. for the particular time, place, or situation:
His casual clothes were inappropriate for such a formal occasion.

inappropriately

adverb us/ˌɪn·əˈproʊ·pri·ət·li/
an effort to stop them spending money inappropriately
(Definition of inappropriate from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

inappropriate | Business English

inappropriate
adjective
uk
/ˌɪnəˈprəʊpriət/ us
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not suitable for a particular situation or person:
inappropriate for sb/sth He had investments in a property company and six media shareholdings - all of which were deemed inappropriate for a BBC director general.
inappropriate for sb to do sth It is entirely inappropriate for fast food chains to be linked to sport.
completely/totally/wholly inappropriate
inappropriate action/behaviour/conduct

inappropriately

adverb
The report said the company had never acted inappropriately.

inappropriateness

noun [ U ]
the inappropriateness of her conduct
(Definition of inappropriate from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of inappropriate

inappropriate
The first is that the measures of depressive symptoms and hopelessness were inappropriate.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
It leads to the architect setting inappropriate design targets.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Indications for surgery were considered appropriate in 59% of cases, uncertain in 32%, and inappropriate in 8%, mainly in the osteoarthritis group.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The panel was uncertain about the appropriateness of 334 (32.4%) of the interventions, and they considered 86 (8.3%) to be inappropriate.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
No cases were found to be inappropriate in the fracture or the revision groups, and the percentage of cases judged to be uncertain was low.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Consequently, the emphasis on speed as a deciding factor between algorithms may be inappropriate.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A service provider might well have organised the information by provider, and judged residential care establishments as inappropriate to an accommodation guide.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The static cognitive neuropsychology framework is not in principle inappropriate for the study of developmental disorders.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Nonparametric statistical tests were considered inappropriate, because they do not test differences in arithmetic means (1).
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Nonparametric statistical tests were considered inappropriate because they do not test differences in arithmetic means (2).
From the Cambridge English Corpus
That is, based on the test results, it is inappropriate to group expansions and contraction into a common regime definition such as extraordinary periods.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The utterances are considered inappropriate in contexts of joyful commemoration and reminiscence.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Only this makes it possible for farmers to take corrective action without additional strain on producers' economy and on the environment through inappropriate production methods.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A failure to do so may lead to an inappropriate interpretation of the information contained in monetary developments.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This step may be difficult to reproduce, especially for panels using the more standard appropriate/inappropriate rating scale.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of inappropriate?
 

Translations of inappropriate

in Chinese (Traditional)
不適合的, 不恰當的…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
不适合的, 不恰当的…
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in Spanish
inapropiado, inapropiado/ada [masculine-feminine], inadecuado/ada [masculine-feminine]…
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in Portuguese
inapropriado, inapropriado/-da…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
अयोग्य…
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ふさわしくない, 不適切（てきせつ）な…
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yersiz, uygunsuz, maksada aykırı…
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inapproprié/-ée, qui ne convient pas, peu approprié…
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inapropiat…
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ongepast…
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பொருத்தமற்றது…
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अनुपयुक्त, अनुचित, गलत…
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અયોગ્ય…
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upassende…
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olämplig…
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tidak sesuai…
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unpassend…
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upassende, malplassert, uheldig…
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نامناسب…
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непідхожий, недоречний…
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తగని…
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বেমানান, অসঙ্গত…
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nehodící se…
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tidak semestinya…
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ซึ่งไม่เหมาะสม…
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không thích hợp…
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niewłaściwy, niestosowny…
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부적당한…
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improprio, inadatto…
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inapplicable to someone/something
inappreciable
inappreciably
inappropriacy
inappropriate
inappropriate for someone/something
inappropriately
inappropriateness
inapt

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