incompetent
/ɪnˈkɒmpətənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.65 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Lacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully.
adj
Opening too early during pregnancy, resulting in miscarriage or premature birth.
adj
Not resistant to deformation or flow.
noun
A person who is incompetent.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: incapable, inable, unable"
- "Having an incompetent lawyer may be grounds for a retrial, but the lawyer in question probably doesn't know that."
- "Many Gazans scorn Fatah as corrupt and incompetent, and they dislike Hamas's overzealousness and repression."
- "The charged was judged incompetent to stand trial, at least until his medication started working."
- "Near-synonyms: dysfunctional, nonfunctioning"
- "But besides these incompetents, there was always a train of camp followers, —women who followed the camp, beggars, and criminals, whose number was often greater than the number of fighting soldiers."
Etymology
Borrowed from French incompétent, from Late Latin incompetentem, from Latin incompetēns, equivalent to in- + competent.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: incompetentem, incompetēns
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈkɒmpətənt/