incoherent
Americanadjective
-
without logical or meaningful connection; disjointed; rambling.
an incoherent sentence.
- Synonyms:
- muddled, irrational, confused
-
characterized by such thought or language, as a person.
incoherent with rage.
-
not coherent or cohering.
an incoherent mixture.
-
lacking physical cohesion; loose.
incoherent dust.
-
lacking unity or harmony of elements.
an incoherent public.
-
lacking congruity of parts; uncoordinated.
-
different or incompatible by nature, as things.
-
Physics. (of a wave) having a low degree of coherence.
adjective
-
lacking in clarity or organization; disordered
-
unable to express oneself clearly; inarticulate
-
physics (of two or more waves) having the same frequency but not the same phase
incoherent light
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incoherent
Explanation
Incoherent thoughts don't follow each other logically. Incoherent speech is mumbled or jumbled. Incoherent means that something is difficult to understand because it's not holding together. A lot of people use incoherent to mean unintelligible, which is a perfectly fine usage. But it specifically means unintelligible due to a lack of cohesion, or sticking together. An incoherent argument may sound something like this. "I deserve to go to the dance because it is the second Tuesday of the month and my feet are a size ten." The reasons do not follow each other logically and do not even relate. It's an incoherent mess.
Vocabulary lists containing incoherent
A Christmas Carol
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Call of the Wild
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
This country is tiled with adrift twentysomething males, beset with incoherent politics, whose opinion about any issue is generated in the 10 seconds after they’ve been asked the question.
From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026
Even light that has become partially incoherent can still perform useful work, just less effectively than fully coherent light.
From Science Daily • Dec. 23, 2025
Thanks to a Dolby Creator Lab Grant, Stern was able to work with Wild to shape a purposefully incoherent soundscape, using Dolby Atmos to fling sounds all around.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025
He said he grew suspicious when someone asked him for a retroactive approval of the order with incoherent documents produced after it was made, and reported this to his superiors.
From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025
But a discussion of “countries like Jamaica and China” which fails to identify their commonality—being similar in some way to Cuba—is bound to be incoherent.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions 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.
