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

• 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); 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

There is among them a hymn, of which the metre is so incondite, and the phraseology so ancient, that the grammarians have attributed it to Linus.

From Imaginary Conversations and Poems A Selection by Landor, Walter Savage

I beg your pardon, my dear fellow; but conduit, incondite, you know.

From Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 02 by Fowler, F. G. (Francis George)

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

‘I had rather hear my mother’s cat mew, or a wheel grate on the axletree, than one of these same metre-ballad-mongers’ chaunt his incondite, retrograde lays, without rhyme and without reason.

From Winterslow Essays and Characters Written There by Hazlitt, William

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