inconvenience; hard living
Refers to a state of inconvenience or difficulty in daily life, often due to poor facilities or circumstances. Somewhat literary or old-fashioned; not a common everyday word.
この家は台所が狭くて不勝手だ。
This house is inconvenient because the kitchen is small.
不勝手な暮らしにも慣れてきた。
I've gotten used to the hard living conditions.
Compound of 不 (fu, 'not') and 勝手 (katte, 'convenience, one's own way'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the spelling is conventionally associated with the meaning of inconvenience or difficulty in living.