incongruent

American  

[in-kong-groo-uhnt, in-kuhn-groo-, -kuhng-] / ɪnˈkɒŋ gru ənt, ˌɪn kənˈgru-, -kəŋ- /

adjective

1. not accordant or in agreement; incongruous.

   All the horrible things she said about him turned out to be incongruent with the man we came to know and trust.

   Synonyms:

   discordant, inharmonious

   Antonyms:

   consonant

2. Chemistry. (of a substance or compound) undergoing a change or changes in composition when undergoing a reaction, as with incongruent melting.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• incongruence
  noun
• incongruently
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of incongruent

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin incongruent- (stem of incongruēns ) “inconsistent”; see in- ³, congruent

Explanation

Something that's incongruent doesn't fit. If you saw your teacher speeding around town in a red sports car, blasting music, this would be incongruent with your image of her as very reserved and studious. Use incongruent to describe something that's out of place or incompatible, like the orange house among all the white ones, or a primly dressed little girl who tells dirty jokes at the second grade talent show. In math, two numbers are incongruent when, after being divided by the same number, their remainders are different. The Latin roots of incongruent are in, or "not," and congruentem, "suitable or agreeing."