incompetent
Americanadjective
-
not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable.
an incompetent candidate.
- Synonyms:
- unfit, inadequate, unqualified
-
characterized by or showing incompetence.
His incompetent acting ruined the play.
-
Law.
-
being unable or legally unqualified to perform specified acts or to be held legally responsible for such acts.
-
inadmissible, as evidence.
-
noun
-
an incompetent person; a mentally deficient person.
-
Law. a person lacking power to act with legal effectiveness.
adjective
-
not possessing the necessary ability, skill, etc to do or carry out a task; incapable
-
marked by lack of ability, skill, etc
-
law not legally qualified
an incompetent witness
-
(of rock strata, folds, etc) yielding readily to pressure so as to undergo structural deformation
noun
Related Words
See incapable.
Other Word Forms
- incompetence noun
- incompetently adverb
Etymology
Origin of incompetent
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Late Latin incompetent- (stem of incompetēns ) “unsuitable.” See in- 3, competent
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.
"You believe that other people are overestimating your abilities and intelligence, and you fear that one day you'll be exposed as incompetent and undeserving of your success."
From Science Daily
"BASIL!" - the unmistakable sound of Sybil Fawlty admonishing her pompous and incompetent husband, is probably how Prunella Scales will best be remembered.
From BBC
Can someone who has not been found legally incompetent, but who has a history of delusions, make decisions regarding property?
From MarketWatch
Most cooking mishaps don’t happen because a recipe is bad or a cook is incompetent.
From Salon
But they also assume anyone who disagrees with them is incompetent, delusional or even a saboteur, so they reject their opinions and ideas out of hand.
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.
