Today's Word "contretemps"
An inopportune situation
on
Published in Vocabulary
contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\ (noun) plural contretemps \-tahnz\ - An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.
"On the card nest to them was written, 'With my most humble apologies for the contretemps of this afternoon. I hope I may be allowed to invite you for dinner after an appropriate period of penance. Josh Hillman.'" -- Judith Krantz, 'Scruples'
Contretemps comes from French, from contre, "against" (from Latin contra) + temps, "time" (from Latin tempus).