incongruous

[in-kong-groo-uhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR incongruous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming: an incongruous effect; incongruous behavior.

not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts: an incongruous mixture of architectural styles.

inconsistent: actions that were incongruous with their professed principles.

Origin of incongruous

First recorded in 1605–15, incongruous is from the Latin word incongruus inconsistent. See in-³, congruous

Related formsin·con·gru·ous·ly, adverbin·con·gru·ous·ness, noun

Can be confusedcongruous congruent incongruous incongruent

Synonyms for incongruous

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR incongruous ON THESAURUS.COM

1. discrepant, unsuitable, ridiculous, ludicrous, absurd. 2. inharmonious, discordant. 3. contrary, contradictory. See inconsistent.

Antonyms for incongruous

1. becoming, appropriate. 2. consonant. 3. consistent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for incongruous

bizarre, inappropriate, contradictory, incoherent, incompatible, alien, conflicting, discordant, disparate, distorted, divergent, extraneous, fantastic, fitful, foreign, illogical, improper, inapt, inconsistent, irreconcilable

Examples from the Web for incongruous

Contemporary Examples of incongruous

Even those who were not already republicans wanted the royals to be more aware of how incongruous their profligacy seemed.
Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like Scotland
Clive Irving
September 17, 2014
It is impossible to overstate just how isolated and incongruous Lady Thatcher was when she entered Parliament in 1959.
Margaret Thatcher: The Accidental Feminist
Amanda Foreman
April 9, 2013
He does not take umbrage at the incongruous presence of the housekeeper in a presidential suite that is still occupied.
Five Things You Didn’t Know About DSK From John Solomon’s New Book
John Solomon
June 5, 2012
“I was 11 years old,” he says, in his gravelly voice that carries an incongruous hint of Brooklyn (Gosling is Canadian).
Ryan Gosling: On Blue Valentine and Michelle Williams
Nicole LaPorte
December 26, 2010
Berliners for the most part simply lived with it, incongruous and sinister as it was.
Scaling the Berlin Wall
Michael R. Meyer
October 31, 2009

Historical Examples of incongruous

The subscribers to the opera would see little in it that was incongruous.
Handel
Edward J. Dent
It had for its incongruous lid a door that had been lifted from its hinges.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment
Rafael Sabatini
The silliness of the situation burned her sense of the incongruous.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
Others are a marvel of ingenious and incongruous combination.
Italy, the Magic Land
Lilian Whiting
It was as if there could be no end of his discoveries about that girl, at the most incongruous moments.
Victory
Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for incongruous

incongruous

incongruent

adjective

(when postpositive, foll by with or to) incompatible with (what is suitable); inappropriate

containing disparate or discordant elements or parts

Derived Formsincongruously or incongruently, adverbincongruousness or incongruence, noun

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 incongruous

adj.

1610s, from Latin incongruus "incongruous," from in- "not, opposite of, without" (see in- (1)) + congruus "fit, suitable" (see congruent). Related: Incongruously.