ill-timed

/ˌɪl ˈtaɪmd/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌɪl ˈtaɪmd/ (ame, ipa)

ill-timed — adjective

1. happening or carried out at a moment that turns out to be awkward, inconvenient,

1.形容詞C1
釋義

happening or carried out at a moment that turns out to be awkward, inconvenient, or harmful — usually because something else important is going on, or because the listener was not ready to hear it.

例句

Tariq's joke about funerals was ill-timed; his grandmother had died the week before.

attributive + reason clause showing why the timing was wrong

The minister's ill-timed visit to the flooded village angered families still searching for missing relatives.

attributive use modifying a noun event

同義詞
  • untimely

    more formal; often suggests something happened too early, especially death

  • inopportune

    formal; stresses the awkwardness of the moment for the speaker or hearer

  • mistimed

    stresses a misjudgement of the moment, often in sport or performance

反義詞
  • well-timed

    direct opposite — happening at exactly the right moment

  • opportune

    formal; describes a moment that is favourable for action

文法句型

ill-timed + noun

be + ill-timed

用法筆記

Frequently used attributively before a noun describing an action, remark, event, or decision (joke, comment, visit, intervention, decision, announcement, attack). The reason it was badly timed is usually given in a following clause or sentence — the adjective alone implies but does not specify the conflict.

常見錯誤

❌The rain was ill-timed for our picnic.
✅The rain came at a bad time for our picnic.
💡ill-timed is used of human actions, decisions, or remarks, not of weather or other natural events nobody chose.
❌He arrived ill-timedly.
✅His arrival was ill-timed.
💡ill-timed has no standard adverb form; rephrase using the adjective.