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definitions

incongruity

[in-kuh n-groo-i-tee, -kuh ng-]
See more synonyms for incongruity on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural in·con·gru·i·ties for 2.
  1. the quality or condition of being incongruous.
  2. something incongruous.

Origin of incongruity

From the Late Latin word incongruitās, dating back to 1525–35. See in-3, congruity
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for incongruity

inconsistency, difference, mismatch, inappropriateness

Examples from the Web for incongruity

Contemporary Examples of incongruity

Historical Examples of incongruity

  • The picture is almost comic in its incongruity with what actually is.

  • Now, it is a mere anomaly and incongruity here, out of date and out of purpose.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • There is the same element of incongruity, without the tragic consequence.

  • There is an incongruity about death on the battlefield which assails the mind.

    Mountain Meditations

    L. Lind-af-Hageby

  • He felt no incongruity in the veteran Parmenides correcting the youthful Socrates.

British Dictionary definitions for incongruity

incongruity

noun plural -ties
  1. something incongruous
  2. the state or quality of being incongruous
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 incongruity
n.

1530s, from French incongruité or directly from Medieval Latin incongruitas, from Latin in- "not" (see in- (1)) + congruitas (see congruity).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper