incompetent

[in-kom-pi-tuhnt]

See more synonyms for incompetent on Thesaurus.com

adjective

not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable: an incompetent candidate.
characterized by or showing incompetence: His incompetent acting ruined the play.
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

an incompetent person; a mentally deficient person.
Law. a person lacking power to act with legal effectiveness.

Origin of incompetent

1590–1600; < Late Latin incompetent- (stem of incompetēns) unsuitable. See in-³, competent

Related formsin·com·pe·tent·ly, adverb

Synonyms for incompetent

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. unqualified, inadequate, unfit. See incapable.

Antonyms for incompetent

1. able, qualified.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for incompetent

inefficient, incapable, inadequate, inept, unskilled, ineffectual, useless, unqualified, helpless, amateurish, inexperienced, raw, amateur, awkward, bungling, bush-league, clumsy, ineligible, inexpert, insufficient

Examples from the Web for incompetent

Contemporary Examples of incompetent

Early on, the sexual protagonist complains that her Molson-drinking husband is pretty much an incompetent Neanderthal.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits
Emily Shire
January 7, 2015
The cops were as incompetent as they often appear to be in the Holmes stories.
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper
Clive Irving
November 16, 2014
Insufficient protocols or incompetent practices for and by the nurses in the hospital hot zone.
Disease History Vs. Disease Hysteria
Kevin Bleyer
October 19, 2014
To buy that you would have to accept that Brooks was either negligent or incompetent.
Murdoch on the Rocks: How a Lone Reporter Revealed the Mogul's Tabloid Terror Machine
Clive Irving
August 25, 2014
According to the historian John Saunders, he was a “weak, vain, incompetent and cowardly” leader.
In Threatening Baghdad, Militants Seek to Undo 800 Years of History
Justin Marozzi
August 16, 2014

Historical Examples of incompetent

If she was incompetent I wasn't bound to keep her just because she'd had a baby.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair
He knew how Washington and incompetent officers had blundered and lied to them.
When the West Was Young
Frederick R. Bechdolt
He was drawn this way and that, struggling with a brain that he knew to be incompetent.
The Twins of Suffering Creek
Ridgwell Cullum
In fact, he felt like a jelly fish save that he was twice as incompetent.
Mixed Faces
Roy Norton
He was unsystematic in his habits, and incompetent in money matters.
History of the Moravian Church
J. E. Hutton

British Dictionary definitions for incompetent

incompetent

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 qualifiedan incompetent witness
(of rock strata, folds, etc) yielding readily to pressure so as to undergo structural deformation

noun

an incompetent person

Derived Formsincompetence or incompetency, nounincompetently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for incompetent

adj.

1610s, "insufficient," from French incompétent, from Late Latin incompetentem (nominative incompetens) "insufficient," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + Latin competentem (see competent). Sense of "lacking qualification or ability" first recorded 1630s. The noun meaning "incompetent person" is from 1866. Related: Incompetently.

incompetent in Medicine

incompetent

[ĭn-kŏm′pĭ-tənt]

adj.

Inadequate for or unsuited to a particular purpose or application.
Incapable of proper functioning.
Not qualified in legal terms.