untimely

Everyday

1. Happening too soon, before the normal or expected time: an untimely death. tree →
2. Happening at a bad or unsuitable time: an untimely interruption. tree →

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 →
• The rain was untimely — right in the middle of sports day. tree →
• His untimely joke made everyone uncomfortable. tree →
• An untimely frost killed the spring flowers. tree →
• The phone rang at an untimely moment. tree →
• Her untimely exit left the team short of players. tree →
• “I am no party to this untimely journey,” he said angrily. tree →

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 Jewish tradition

In Job and Psalms it refers to a baby born dead or too early, who never saw the light.

Interpretation. Job wishes he had not been born, and the Psalm uses the same picture for the wicked. Tradition reads this as showing the depth of suffering and the fragility of life.

Examples

• Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light. (Writings JOB.3.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away; like the untimely births of a woman, that have not seen the sun. (Writings PSA.58.9, JPS 1917) tree →

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.