incongruity
Americannoun
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something incongruous
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the state or quality of being incongruous
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of incongruity
From the Late Latin word incongruitās, dating back to 1525–35. See in- 3, congruity
Explanation
Incongruity means out of place — something that doesn't fit in its location or situation. The art show patrons couldn't help but chuckle at the incongruity of a toilet sitting in the middle of an exhibition of Renaissance paintings. An incongruity is very different from everything around it, to the point of being inappropriate to the situation. A cat at a dog's birthday party would be an incongruity, as would a pacifist at a meeting of the War Lovers' Society. Incongruity is the idea that something is incongruous, or inappropriate. A purple towel is an incongruity in an all black-and-white bathroom.
Vocabulary lists containing incongruity
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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This Week in Pop Culture: May 4–10, 2019
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Just Mercy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Owens understands that this incongruity between Kirk’s ideology and behavior unsettles people.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Snake Men,” told with delightful humor and insight, takes readers on a journey through incongruity: amateur scientists, professional pique and the insatiable human drive to name everything, everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“That incongruity can cause stress in a relationship.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
The tool works through an algorithm which assesses incongruity.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
Some of the dockers, training their field glasses on Tom Smith’s face as he led the horse back to the barn, noticed a glaring incongruity.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Technical strategists see incongruities like this as a sign that the index’s strength has been predicated, somewhat precariously, on the success of a minority of its stocks, making it more vulnerable to adverse developments.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2025
And when we point out incongruities or inefficiencies in these policies, we’re told: No, you’re inefficient and lazy.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2025
The incongruities in park guidelines and messaging stretch back to the post-town-hall banning of tripods from the prairie.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
He had a temperament perfectly suited for documenting the incongruities of the city at the turn of the century.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2023
I admit that I utterly failed to see the point of this picture; but now that I am aware of its meaning I understand its apparent incongruities.
From Authors and Writers Associated with Morristown With a Chapter on Historic Morristown by Julia Keese Colles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
