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

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

An incompetent American foreign-policy cadre failed to win wars, advance democracy or build peace.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

If the Fed is this incompetent with banking system liquidity, why should I trust them with anything?

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

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