inapt

[in-apt]

adjective

1. not apt or fitting.

   Synonyms: inapposite, unfit, inappropriate, unsuitable, unsuited
   Antonyms: appropriate

2. without aptitude or capacity.

   Synonyms: awkward, clumsy, incapable
   Antonyms: capable

inapt

/ ɪnˈæpt /

adjective

1. not apt or fitting; inappropriate

2. lacking skill; inept

Other Word Forms

• inaptly adverb
• inaptness noun
• inaptitude noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of inapt¹

First recorded in 1735–45; in- ³ + apt

Example Sentences

In 2001 at the U.N.’s inaptly named World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, the U.S. and Israeli delegations left the meeting to protest the reappearance of a document equating Zionism with racism.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This renders Mr. Bacon’s subtitle inapt: “The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald” has been told and retold by authors and bards.

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After all, it’s a movie for which too much cleanup may be inapt.

Read more on New York Times

It is also why Republicans continue to mock what they call the inaptly named Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022 on strictly Democratic votes.

Read more on New York Times

That was just one example in recent days of the Republicans’ clown car backfiring in the party’s bumbling drive to weaponize the government against political foes — the very crime it inaptly projects onto Democrats.

Read more on Los Angeles Times