incondite

American  

[in-kon-dit, -dahyt] / ɪnˈkɒn dɪt, -daɪt /

adjective

1. ill-constructed; unpolished.

   incondite prose.

2. crude; rough; unmannerly.

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incondite British  

/ -daɪt, ɪnˈkɒndɪt /

adjective

1. poorly constructed or composed

2. rough or crude

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• inconditely
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of incondite

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin inconditus, equivalent to in- “un-” + conditus, past participle of condere “to put in, restore” ( con- “with, together” + -di- “to put, set” + -tus past participle suffix); see in- ³, con-

Explanation

The word incondite describes something that's unpolished or in a disorganized state — like a rough draft of an essay, before you've cleaned it up and made it flow more coherently. Derived from the Latin word inconditus ("not put together"), incondite describes works that lack order, rhythm, or refinement. While often used to critique rambling speech or clumsy prose, it can also describe anything raw and unfinished — like a crude shelter made of loosely piled stones and fallen branches. The word isn't always an insult: A historian might value an incondite journal that captures the raw, unedited reality of a moment, or the early, incondite works of a renowned artist or writer.

Example Sentences

Willymot had translated Lord Bacon’s “Essays” from the Latin, and thus substituted his own loose incondite sentences, which he deemed “more fashionable language,” for the brilliancy or the energy of Lord Bacon’s native vein.

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac

Reared in incondite depths of doom As shadows spell each sinner's name, A Necromancer mounts a stand That storms and sleet struck with their helm, And smites the weird elements.

From Betelguese A Trip Through Hell by de Esque, Jean

He is no such honest chronicler as R.N., and would have done better perhaps to have consulted that gentleman, before he sent these incondite reminiscences to press.

From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Lamb, Charles

The question of arrangement had to be considered; I did not like to offer a mere incondite miscellany. 

From The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by Gissing, George

For this it is too polemical, diffuse, incondite.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 382, October 1847 by Various