Meaning & use
incommodious
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparableformal
Uncomfortable or inconvenient, especially because a place is too small or badly arranged.
Grammar: Describes a thing or place, not a person: an incommodious room, not an incommodious guest.
Patterns
- an incommodious room
- incommodious for someone
The attic room was incommodious, with barely space to stand upright.
Guests complained that the seating was incommodious and badly placed.
They moved to a larger office because the old one had become incommodious for a growing team.
adjectivenot comparableformalrare
Causing trouble or inconvenience to someone.
Grammar: Often used of arrangements or timing that put people to extra effort.
Patterns
- incommodious to someone
- an incommodious arrangement
The late change of date was incommodious to everyone who had already booked travel.
It was an incommodious arrangement that required two separate journeys.
Common combinations
- an incommodious room
- They were given an incommodious room at the back of the hotel.
- incommodious for
- The narrow stairs are incommodious for anyone carrying luggage.
- prove incommodious
- The temporary shelter proved incommodious in wet weather.
- rather incommodious
- The seating was rather incommodious for such a long ceremony.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cramped
- Cramped is the everyday word for a space that is too small; incommodious is more formal and can also mean inconvenient in other ways.
- inconvenient
- Inconvenient focuses on causing trouble or extra effort, while incommodious often suggests physical discomfort as well.
- uncomfortable
- Uncomfortable is the general everyday choice for physical or emotional unease; incommodious is narrower and much more formal.
Opposites
Word family
- commodious adjective
- Roomy and comfortable; the opposite of incommodious in its physical sense.
- incommodiously adverb
- In an uncomfortable or inconvenient way.
- incommodity noun
- A formal word for an inconvenience or disadvantage.
Commonly confused: incommodious or incommodious? incommodious or incommunicado?
incommodious vs incommodious
Do not confuse with 'commodious', which means spacious and comfortable — the opposite meaning.
incommodious vs incommunicado
Incommunicado means unable to communicate with others; incommodious is about discomfort or inconvenience.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'incommodious' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Incommodious describes a place or arrangement that is uncomfortable or inconvenient, so it fits a cramped room. It does not describe feelings (option 1), relationships (option 2), or actions (option 3).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incommodious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.