inconsistency
Americannoun
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inconsistencies
plural
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the quality or condition of being inconsistent.
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an inconsistent thing, action, remark, etc.
noun
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lack of consistency or agreement; incompatibility
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an inconsistent feature or quality
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logic
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the property of being inconsistent
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a self-contradictory proposition
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inconsistency
First recorded in 1640–50; in- 3 + consistency
Explanation
When there's inconsistency, things are not the same. An example of inconsistency in parenting might be when parents give different allowances to kids who are the same age. There's a lot of inconsistency in the world. Some restaurants will serve delicious food most of the time, but not all the time. Teachers in different classes will have different rules for what is expected. Another type of inconsistency is between ideas or propositions. For example, if you want to lose weight but cannot stop eating donuts, there is a major inconsistency between those two ideas. Anywhere you find things that are changing or varying, there is inconsistency.
Vocabulary lists containing inconsistency
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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"How Smart Are Animals?" Vocabulary from the science article
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The Last Cuentista
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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:
The inconsistency on offense, though, has been a source of frustration for Lara.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Sylvia’s early childhood environment was characterized by volatility and inconsistency.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
Their selection inconsistency is mirrored in their form on the park too.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
He gave up six runs in 5⅓ innings, raising concerns again over his inconsistency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Mrs. Ivy said, “There is a small scheduling inconsistency, Dr. Fox. No need to concern yourself.”
From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo
OpenAI’s investors had reportedly tried to compare its annualized revenue with that of rival Anthropic, but because the frontier labs calculate this number differently, that led to inconsistencies, according to the Financial Times.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
But despite the typos and inconsistencies in the emails, I understood how such an unsophisticated scam might actually be effective if the mark was sufficiently confused—or frightened.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
Jason Arday resigned from the University of Cambridge following allegations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in his back story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
However, with the Epstein files' release, inconsistencies began to appear in this version of events.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
He had relived this memory so many times that he could see the inconsistencies of this dream.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
