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:
Their selection inconsistency is mirrored in their form on the park too.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Caldentey says Arsenal came up short last season through inconsistency and hopes the signings will help overcome that hurdle.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
He gave up six runs in 5⅓ innings, raising concerns again over his inconsistency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The detective noted the inconsistency, which Bušić attributed to not sleeping for “four or five days.”
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
There’s an inconsistency, a ghost in this story.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
In their appeal, City will argue the payments were made by the United Arab Emirates government as a shareholder of the sponsors, while there are inconsistencies in the Commission's judgement.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Millions of voters have also been flagged for additional scrutiny after the ECI used automated systems to detect what they described as "logical discrepancies", including mismatched names and inconsistencies in family details.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
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
Their sights seem to be set on perjury, seeking desperately to find inconsistencies in Smith’s recollection of his criminal investigations.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
She pointed out three areas with inconsistencies, and made a document for Pattie to use when she next met with the landlord.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
