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# untimely

«untimely» in Mova's school dictionary: **Happening too soon, before the normal or expected time:…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (untimely)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Happening too soon, before the normal or expected time: an untimely death. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#m1)

2) Happening at a bad or unsuitable time: an untimely interruption. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In formal language, news and stories «untimely death» is a gentle, formal way to say someone died young. In everyday life an untimely phone call or joke comes at the wrong moment. In stories it hints at sadness or bad luck.

### examples

- The singer's untimely death shocked his fans. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x1)
- The rain was untimely — right in the middle of sports day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x2)
- His untimely joke made everyone uncomfortable. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x3)
- An untimely frost killed the spring flowers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x4)
- The phone rang at an untimely moment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x5)
- Her untimely exit left the team short of players. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x6)
- “I am no party to this untimely journey,” he said angrily. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/#x7)

### note

Though it ends in -ly, it is an adjective, not an adverb. Opposite: timely (at the right time). Formal and a bit old-fashioned; often used as a soft way to speak of a death.

### In the corpora

- ["Met an untimely end" means died young or died violently.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/5/)
- [Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/JOB.54/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «untimely» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untimely/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.