Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Fitting and to the point. synonym: relevant.
  • adverb At an appropriate time; opportunely.
  • adverb By the way; incidentally.
  • preposition With regard to; concerning.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • . To the purpose; opportunely; seasonably.
  • 2. With reference or regard; in respect: followed by of.
  • . With reference to that (a thing just mentioned); by the way: used absolutely, to introduce an incidental observation.
  • Opportune; seasonable; to the purpose; pertinent; happy: as, an apropos remark.
  • noun Pertinency.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • Opportunely or opportune; seasonably or seasonable.
  • By the way; to the purpose; suitably to the place or subject; -- a word used to introduce an incidental observation, suited to the occasion, though not strictly belonging to the narration.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of an appropriate or pertinent nature.
  • adjective by the way, incidental.
  • preposition Regarding or concerning.
  • adverb By the way.
  • adverb Timely; at a good time.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of an appropriate or pertinent nature
  • adverb at an opportune time
  • adverb introducing a different topic; in point of fact

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French à propos : à, to (from Old French a, from Latin ad; see ad–) + propos, purpose (from Latin prōpositum, from neuter past participle of prōpōnere, to intend; see propose).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French à propos ("on that subject")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word apropos.

Examples

  • Great tip for beginners and terminal hackers alike, and apropos is installed on a wide number of Linux distros and other terminals.

    Use Apropos to Learn New Terminal Commands | Lifehacker Australia 2008

  • Writing upon the subject in which he was interested, in the midst of his family, he would pause, pen in hand, to laugh at some jest or say a word apropos of the question under discussion, and return in an instant to his work.

    Recollections of a Virginian in the Mexican, Indian, and Civil wars, 1894

  • Imagine being Thief of Bagdad, title apropos to these times, as a Chinese American at Graumann's Chinese Theatre, then in its Chinarama phase, chock-a-block with faux orientalism, a chinkee apocalypse in plastic and red paper.

    GreenCine Daily 2009

  • Imagine being Thief of Bagdad, title apropos to these times, as a Chinese American at Graumann's Chinese Theatre, then in its Chinarama phase, chock-a-block with faux orientalism, a chinkee apocalypse in plastic and red paper.

    GreenCine Daily 2009

  • Imagine being Thief of Bagdad, title apropos to these times, as a Chinese American at Graumann's Chinese Theatre, then in its Chinarama phase, chock-a-block with faux orientalism, a chinkee apocalypse in plastic and red paper.

    GreenCine Daily 2009

  • If, for instance, you knew you had a video encoder handy but didn’t quite know how to get at it, type in apropos mpeg and you’ll get a list of commands and programs that have the words “mpeg” in their man, or manual, files.

    Use Apropos to Learn New Terminal Commands | Lifehacker Australia 2008

  • A final word apropos of post-pop museology: Although this show has just opened, the first edition of the exhibition catalog has already sold out, which proves that an historical show rich in cultural implication can draw people to its concerns.

    Art and Design in the Lab 2009

  • A final word apropos of post-pop museology: Although this show has just opened, the first edition of the exhibition catalog has already sold out, which proves that an historical show rich in cultural implication can draw people to its concerns.

    Art and Design in the Lab 2009

  • That's what I get for second-guessing my initial choice of "apropos".

    Hillary's Speech: Words Don't Matter, Work Does 2009

  • Nothing could be more "apropos" to quote Walter's expression.

    Hector's Inheritance, Or, the Boys of Smith Institute Horatio Alger 1865

Comments

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  • Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.

    January 25, 2007

  • and, what is that last letter s for?

    February 11, 2007

  • Oh come on, it wouldn't really be foreign if it didn't have silent letters! ;-)

    February 11, 2007

  • I could hardly say, "are screwing," however apropos it might be. -Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas

    December 11, 2010