infelicity.

An awkward or inappropriate choice of words or action, or the flaw this creates.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• infelicity of expression
• stylistic infelicities
• an unfortunate infelicity

On the page

The editor corrected several infelicities without changing the argument.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Countable or uncountable by context; countable singular infelicity; plural infelicities. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Collins verifies an inapt or inappropriate remark/expression; formal editorial judgment, not necessarily a factual mistake. Writing functions: analysis, conceptual distinction.