incompetent

[in-kom-pi-tuhnt]

adjective

1. not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable.

   an incompetent candidate.

   Synonyms: unfit, inadequate, unqualified
   Antonyms: qualified, able

2. characterized by or showing incompetence.

   His incompetent acting ruined the play.

3. Law.

   1. being unable or legally unqualified to perform specified acts or to be held legally responsible for such acts.

   2. inadmissible, as evidence.

noun

1. an incompetent person; a mentally deficient person.

2. Law.,  a person lacking power to act with legal effectiveness.

incompetent

/ ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt /

adjective

1. not possessing the necessary ability, skill, etc to do or carry out a task; incapable

2. marked by lack of ability, skill, etc

3. law not legally qualified

   an incompetent witness

4. (of rock strata, folds, etc) yielding readily to pressure so as to undergo structural deformation

noun

1. an incompetent person

Other Word Forms

• incompetently adverb
• incompetence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of incompetent¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Late Latin incompetent- (stem of incompetēns ) “unsuitable.” See in- ³, competent

Synonym Study

See incapable.

Example Sentences

“The master of this house pays you to keep a close eye on his wards, you incompetent! Do you have any idea how much is at stake should they wander off?”

Read more on Literature

“Awful, clumsy, incompetent workmen! I shall have them all fired,” she fumed.

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They've accused Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer – who didn't vote for the funding bill – of being secretly complicit in the reopening plan or simply incompetent.

Read more on BBC

When professors are concentrated at one extreme, a department isn’t only unbalanced—it’s incompetent.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“We look like fools to our friends,” wrote a New York Times columnist, “rascals to our enemies and incompetents to the rest.”

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• amateurish 
• helpless 
• inadequate 
• incapable 
• ineffectual 
• inefficient 
• inept 
• inexperienced 
• unqualified 
• unskilled 
• useless