conflicting appointment

USAGE SUMMARY

'conflicting appointment' is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You might use it in a sentence such as: "I'm sorry, I cannot attend the meeting due to a conflicting appointment."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

2 human-written examples

Whether it's automatically identifying preferred restaurants when a user asks Amazon's Echo and Alexa to order a pizza, or suggesting that a user move a conflicting appointment to a different time when scheduling a meeting.

TechCrunch

She can't miss a subway on her way to seeing me, and definitely won't have a childcare emergency or conflicting appointment.

Vice

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

58 human-written examples

The Huffington Post reported earlier this year that Mandel's official schedules did not disclose conflicting appointments during the meetings and at one point showed that he was attending a fundraiser in Washington at the time.

Huffington Post

Approximately 10% of the sessions had to be abbreviated (e.g., because women had to leave or the PA had conflicting appointments with other participants).

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Only 40 of the 67 intervention PHNs attended the education; other PHNs had conflicting appointments or were off work; some temporary staff did not attend either.

BMC Health Services Research

This was extremely helpful when the participant could not come to the group exercise due to conflict appointments or weather changes.

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Other communication issues stemmed from poor administration such as letters not being sent; patients being sent details of the wrong appointment; conflicting information being given by healthcare professionals and information not being given in plain English.

BMJ Open

Participants suggested the following barriers to families attending appointments: travel and parking issues; general 'access' difficulties; poor administration of appointment letters; conflicting priorities such as school, work or illness; lengthy waiting times; many scheduled appointments; and forgetting.

Family Practice

Doubtful DR case subjects were patients with only screening appointments or conflicting entries between procedure results and recorded diagnosis.

Diabetes Care

The commonest reason given for not attending was that the class was at an inconvenient time (especially for those at work or studying) or conflicted with another appointment (e.g. dentist, picking up a child).

BMC Health Services Research

Even at this late date in the conflict, the appointment of ARVN general officers was prompted by political loyalty rather than professional competence.

Wikipedia

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When informing someone of a "conflicting appointment", provide alternative times or dates to reschedule. This shows consideration and helps resolve the scheduling problem efficiently.

Common error

Avoid assuming the cause of a "conflicting appointment". Instead of immediately apologizing or offering a reason that may not be accurate, simply acknowledge the conflict and offer to reschedule. This prevents misunderstandings and assumptions.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "conflicting appointment" functions as a noun phrase, typically serving as the object of a verb or the subject of a sentence. It indicates the existence of a scheduling problem where two or more appointments cannot occur simultaneously. As Ludwig AI suggests, it is a usable phrase in written English.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

50%

Science

50%

Formal & Business

0%

Less common in

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "conflicting appointment" is a grammatically sound and understandable way to express a scheduling issue. According to Ludwig, this phrase is correct and usable in written English. While the term is not very common, it is understandable across a variety of professional and casual contexts. You can use the phrase "conflicting appointment" to denote the impossibility of keeping appointments occurring at the same time. Alternative phrases include "schedule conflict", "appointment clash", and overlapping appointments. When using the phrase, remember to be polite and offer alternative times for rescheduling.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

schedule conflict

Replaces "conflicting appointment" with a more concise term.

scheduling conflict

A more general term for any kind of conflict in scheduling.

appointment clash

Uses "clash" instead of "conflict" to denote a scheduling issue.

overlapping appointments

Focuses on the overlap in time between appointments.

appointment overlap

Similar to "overlapping appointments" but more concise.

double booking

Highlights the situation where the same time slot is booked for two appointments.

time conflict with appointment

Specifies the conflict as related to time.

concurrent appointment

Highlights the simultaneity of the appointments, making attendance impossible.

appointment scheduling issue

Replaces "conflict" with the more general term "issue".

difficulty scheduling appointment

Emphasizes the difficulty of scheduling without specifying a conflict.

FAQs

How can I politely decline an invitation due to a "conflicting appointment"?

You can say something like, "Thank you for the invitation, but I won't be able to attend due to a "schedule conflict"." It's polite and straightforward.

What's a professional way to explain a "conflicting appointment" to a client?

Explain that you have a prior commitment and offer alternative times. For example, "I apologize, but I have a "prior engagement" at that time. Would another time work for you?"

What are some alternatives to saying "conflicting appointment" in an email?

You could use phrases like "appointment clash", "scheduling conflict", or "time conflict with appointment" depending on the specific context.

Is it better to say "conflicting appointment" or "overlapping appointment"?

Both are acceptable, but "overlapping appointments" emphasizes that the appointments occur at the same time, while "conflicting appointment" simply indicates a scheduling problem.