ineptitude
Americannoun
-
quality or condition of being inept.
-
an inept act or remark.
Etymology
Origin of ineptitude
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin ineptitūdō; see origin at inept, -i-, -tude
Explanation
Ineptitude is a lack of skill, ability, or competence. A doctor would prove his ineptitude at practicing medicine if he mistakenly removed a patient's spleen instead of his kidney. Ineptitude and incompetence are synonyms to describe people who have absolutely no idea what they're doing. It's definitely not a quality you'd want in a pilot, who might prove his ineptitude by sending a plane full of passengers hurtling to the ground. Ineptitude also isn't a good quality to have in fields like medicine, where even one careless mistake could be life-threatening.
Vocabulary lists containing ineptitude
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Ender's Game
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Dragonwings
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I didn’t like myself very much, and I thought that someone who didn’t like me must be a genius and that I could overcome my inherent ineptitude by getting them to like me.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
That she presumes such ineptitude and desperation among her legions of users does not bode well.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
Sonny finds himself tripping over his ineptitude and tangled up in conflicting sympathies—he’s almost as anxious as his hostages, whom he treats with an apologetic kindliness, almost like a party crasher who’s broken a vase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Aiding his victory was his predecessor Eric Adams’ flagrant corruption and ineptitude.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
Like many usage controversies, the brouhaha over like a cigarette should is a product of grammatical ineptitude and historical ignorance.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
