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
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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The Call of the Wild
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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.
The sunlight was strongly polarized while remaining highly incoherent across both space and time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
The suspect had made "incoherent statements", Nunez said, warning however against jumping to conclusions as to his motives.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Here, it's been incoherent for 30-odd years and been left to the developers."
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
And these worlds aren’t even real, just ones and zeros merged to form a network of communication that sometimes feels like incoherent gibberish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Pita whined out an incoherent sound, and I smiled as I walked away with it without feeling even a little bit guilty.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
