impolitic

I1M3P3O1L1I1T1I1C3
UK/ɪmˈpɒ.lɪ.tɪk/

adjective

Not in accordance with good policy.

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

adjectiveimpolitic (comparative more impolitic, superlative most impolitic)

comparative more impolitic · superlative most impolitic · alternative obsolete impolitick

  1. Not in accordance with good policy.

    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
    2 more examples

    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

    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

    Synonyms: unwise, inexpedient, unadvisable

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveNot in accordance with good policy.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivenot politic

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Middle Englishin-
  6. Englishim-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*tpelH-
  8. Proto-Hellenic*ptólis
  9. Ancient Greekπόλις (pólis)
  10. Ancient Greekπολῑ́της (polī́tēs)
  11. Ancient Greekπολιτικός (politikós)
  12. Latinpolīticus
  13. Middle Frenchpolitique
  14. Englishpolitic
  15. Englishimpolitic

From im- + politic.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian нетактичен
  • нетактичен (netaktičen)not in accordance with good policy
Dutch onpolitiek, onverstandig
  • onpolitieknot in accordance with good policy
  • onverstandignot in accordance with good policy
  • onoordeelkundignot in accordance with good policy
French impolitique
  • impolitiquenot in accordance with good policy
Cite this entry
APA

impolitic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impolitic

MLA

“impolitic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impolitic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “impolitic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impolitic.

Source: impolitic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.