apropos
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French à propos (“on that subject”).
Similar in meaning and form- and to some extent etymology- to appropriate, but not a doublet of it.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌæp.ɹəˈpəʊ/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌæp.ɹəˈpoʊ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -əʊ
Adjective edit
apropos (comparative more apropos, superlative most apropos)
- Of an appropriate or pertinent nature.
- 1877, Jules Verne, translated by Frederick Amadeus Malleson, Journey into the Interior of the Earth, Chapter VI:
- Nothing easier. I received not long ago a map from my friend, Augustus Petermann, at Leipzig. Nothing could be more apropos.
- 2008 December, Anne Valdespino, “Mr. Stox”, in Orange Coast, volume 34, number 12, →ISSN, page 139:
- Served outside the shell and sliced in bite-sized pieces, it's as apropos for a first date as a business dinner.
- by the way, incidental
- 1877, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet:
- Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. "No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin," he observed. "Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends' thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour's silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine."
Synonyms edit
- (by the way): by the way, incidentally, incidental
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
of an appropriate or pertinent nature
|
Preposition edit
apropos
- Regarding or concerning.
- 2011, Jeremy Harding, “Diary”, in London Review of Books, 33.VII:
- Few have the same root and branch obsession with the recent past or the avenger’s recall (‘the necessity for long memory and sarcasm in argument’, as he wrote apropos the old left intelligentsia in New York).
Synonyms edit
- about, as for; See also Thesaurus:about
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
regarding or concerning
|
Adverb edit
apropos
- By the way.
- Timely; at a good time.
- To the purpose; appropriately.
Translations edit
by the way
|
timely, at a good time
Anagrams edit
Danish edit
Alternative forms edit
- (nonstandard) à propos
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French à propos.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
apropos n (singular definite aproposet or apropos'et, plural indefinite aproposer or apropos'er)
Inflection edit
Declension of apropos
| neuter gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | apropos | aproposet apropos'et |
aproposer apropos'er |
aproposerne apropos'erne |
| genitive | apropos' | aproposets apropos'ets |
aproposers apropos'ers |
aproposernes apropos'ernes |
Preposition edit
apropos
- apropos (regarding or concerning)
Adverb edit
apropos
German edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French à propos.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
apropos
- speaking of, apropos
- Synonyms: übrigens, nebenbei, bei der Gelegenheit, da wir gerade davon sprechen
- Apropos, Spanien: Wir fliegen ja nächsten Monat nach Madrid.
- Speaking of Spain, you know we’re flying to Madrid next month.