untimely
/ʌnˈtaɪmli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.12 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
At an inopportune time.
adv
Example Sentences
- "untimely remarks"
- "an untimely death"
- "The heroes of literary as well as civil history have been very often no less remarkable for what they have suffered, than for what they have atchieved^([sic]); and volumes have been written only to enumerate the miseries of the learned, and relate their unhappy lives, and untimely deaths."
- "Untimely blossom! Poor, impatient thing, / That, starting rashly from the sheltering mould, / Bravest the peevish wind and sullen cold, / Mistaking thine own ardors for the spring"
- "Tell thee, Macduffe was from his Mothers womb / Untimely ript."
- "They light fires under fruit trees to keep the fruit from falling untimely."
Etymology
From Middle English untymely (also earlier untimliche), equivalent to un- + timely. First attested in the early 13th century. Compare Middle Danish utimelig, Old English untídlic (“unseasonable”).
Origin
- Source language: Middle English
- First known use: First attested in the early 13th century
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
untimelier (comparative)
more untimely (comparative)
untimeliest (superlative)
most untimely (superlative)