Impolitic

Word of the Day for Thursday, August 15, 2013

Impolitic \im-POL-i-tik\, adjective:

not politic, expedient, or judicious.

"The cruelty, the impolitic cruelty," he replied, with great feeling, "of dividing, or attempting to divide, two young people long attached to each other, is terrible…"
-- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, 1811

"From my point of view it might be impolitic," said Stephen. Jack looked at him, saw that the matter had to do with intelligence and nodded. "Are there any others you would object to?" he asked.
-- Patrick O'Brian, The Wine-Dark Sea, 1993

Impolitic combines the prefix im- meaning "not," with the Greek root politikos meaning "of citizens" or "pertaining to public life." It entered English around 1600.

 

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com