a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence
not appropriate in application; defective; "an infelicitous remark"; "infelicitous phrasing"; "the infelicitous typesetting was due to illegible copy"
marked by or producing unhappiness; "infelicitous circumstances"; "unhappy caravans, straggling afoot through swamps and canebrakes"- American Guide Series
designed or tending to discredit, especially without positive or helpful suggestions; "negative criticism"
(sometimes followed by `to') causing harm or injury; "damaging to career and reputation"; "the reporter's coverage resulted in prejudicial publicity for the defendant"
a positive feeling of liking; "he had trouble expressing the affection he felt"; "the child won everyone's heart"; "the warmness of his welcome made us feel right at home"
a natural attraction or feeling of kinship; "an affinity for politics"; "the mysterious affinity between them"; "James's affinity with Sam"
inherent resemblance between persons or things
the force attracting atoms to each other and binding them together in a molecule; "basic dyes have an affinity for wool and silk"
(immunology) the attraction between an antigen and an antibody
a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character; "found a natural affinity with the immigrants"; "felt a deep kinship with the other students"; "anthropology's kinship with the humanities"
(biology) state of relationship between organisms or groups of organisms resulting in resemblance in structure or structural parts; "in anatomical structure prehistoric man shows close affinity with modern humans"
(anthropology) kinship by marriage or adoption; not a blood relationship