Dictionary

impolitic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ɪmˈpɒ.lɪ.tɪk/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English im- English politic English impolitic From im- + politic.

Meanings

1. Not in accordance with good policy.
   • Even when it was impolitic to admire, let alone name, Evagrius, his descriptions of progress in the spiritual life could not be and were not ignored […]. 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 210:
   • On at least one such occasion, in L.N.E.R. days, I discovered later that what I had written was precisely what the authorities wanted to be said, though it would have been highly impolitic for my chief to have given me this information rather than the formal reproof that I received! 1956 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 4:
   • And thereafter it became impolitic to say anything critical about the Harris sprint. 2024 November 8, Ross Douthat, “How Democrats Helped Trump”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

impoliticness · impolitically

Synonyms

inexpedient · unadvisable · unwise

Translations (6)

fr impolitique (not in accordance with good policy) · nl onpolitiek (not in accordance with good policy) · nl onoordeelkundig (not in accordance with good policy) · bg нетактичен (not in accordance with good policy) · nl onverstandig (not in accordance with good policy) · gv anchreeney (not in accordance with good policy)