incommensurate
Americanadjective
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not commensurate; disproportionate; inadequate.
Our income is incommensurate to our wants.
adjective
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not commensurate; disproportionate
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incommensurable
Other Word Forms
- incommensurately adverb
- incommensurateness noun
Etymology
Origin of incommensurate
First recorded in 1640–50; in- 3 + commensurate
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.
“India’s defense modernization over this period has been directionally correct, but at a pace and level of effort that is incommensurate with its threat environment.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
The two surfaces should be incommensurate, which means the potential 'hills' in the molecular structure of one surface should not fit to the potential 'wells' of the other surface.
From Science Daily • Jan. 17, 2024
Despite the complexity of these latter ideas, her use of diagrams and figures helps to reinforce their approachability—although in some cases their incommensurate simplicity feels unsatisfying.
From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2023
Her Twitter feed, Samaha says, was like a “surreal mash-up” of her very real yet seemingly incommensurate interests.
From New York Times • Oct. 10, 2021
We do not find fault with men for being born in positions that confer powers upon them incommensurate with their rights.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 78, April, 1864 by Various
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.
