tactless
adjective
Simple meaning
Having no tact.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
taktluhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtæktləs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Having no tact; unaware or intentionally inconsiderate of someone else's feelings
“It was tactless of you not to attend your sister's wedding.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Having no tact; unaware or intentionally inconsiderate of someone else's feelings
Used this way, tactless is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“It was tactless of you not to attend your sister's wedding.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “tactless of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: tactless of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tactless
- “In the circumstances it was tactless to ask her age.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: having no tact
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.