as in unfit
lacking qualities (as knowledge, skill, or ability) required to do a job
hired a supremely incapable assistant who only made a mess of things
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Recent Examples of incapable
This definition also includes instance in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (include due to the influence of drugs or alcohol) or because of age.
—
Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2026
Human beings are incapable of making perfect copies.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
This year’s sophomore class was dismissed time and time again as unserious or incapable difference-makers over the previous season.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
The premise of this new movie offers the easy layup of footage of Zoom meetings in which Wilson and his collaborators talk to an agent who’s increasingly incapable of pretending there’s anything commercially viable about their proposition.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incapable
Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2026
Human beings are incapable of making perfect copies.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
This year’s sophomore class was dismissed time and time again as unserious or incapable difference-makers over the previous season.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
The premise of this new movie offers the easy layup of footage of Zoom meetings in which Wilson and his collaborators talk to an agent who’s increasingly incapable of pretending there’s anything commercially viable about their proposition.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incapable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapable
Adjective
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The resulting investigation by Texas Department of Family and Protective Services deemed the young parents unfit caregivers.—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
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Democrats wringing their hands and making appeals to process while the President sends people to Salvadoran prisons without trial are unfit to meet the moment, this theory says.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The long-term damage that an unqualified, incompetent, compromised or immoral — but superpowered — mayor can inflict on the city is too great.—
Steven Falk,
Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2026
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But this time, instead of managing guest complaints, incompetent stews, and steamy boatmances as the chief stewardess of Parsifal III on Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Daisy has jumped ship (literally) as the new chief stew on Below Deck Down Under.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
2 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
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The venerable American clan at the center of the narrator’s reminiscences are wholly unfitted to the modern world and no longer endowed with the fortune that one of them brought home long ago on clipper ships.—
Daniel Akst,
WSJ,
2 Sep. 2022
Adjective
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The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.—
Jon Gambrell,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
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Bowden and her attorneys were unable to attend the hearing before the board voted on the matter because the medical board provided a videoconference link that did not work, the suit says.—
Evan MacDonald,
Houston Chronicle,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incapable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapable. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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