Apropos

 WORD OF THE DAY

apropos / preposition / ap-ruh-POH

Definition
1: being both relevant and opportune
2a: with regard to (something)
2b: apropos of
3a: at an opportune time
3b: seasonably
4a: by way of interjection or further comment
4b: with regard to the present topic

Examples
"It was July 2020 and, apropos of the times, they were in a Zoom meeting."
— Alix Wall, The New York Times, 20 May 2022

This short yet spacious and powerful book … reminds us of the careful and apropos writing of J.M. Coetzee, W.G. Sebald and Uwe Timm.
— Thomas McGuane, New York Times Book Review, 24 June 2007

Did You Know?
English speakers borrowed apropos from the French phrase à propos, literally "to the purpose."
Since it first appeared in the 17th century, apropos has been used as an adverb, adjective, noun, and preposition. Left alone, the word probably wouldn't have gotten much attention, but in 1926 noted language expert H. W. Fowler declared of apropos "that it is better always to use of rather than to after it…."
While this prescription seems to be based on the use of the preposition de ("of") in the French construction à propos de, rather than the actual usage history of apropos in English, some language commentators take Fowler's recommendation to be virtually a commandment.
But others have noted that apropos is sometimes used by itself in professionally edited prose, or, more rarely, is followed by to.