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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of incapable
Without a single boundary to anchor physicists’ calculations, a de Sitter universe seems incapable of holding anything quantum at all.
—
Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 30 Mar. 2026
Both view the Lebanese government as still completely incapable of disarming Hezbollah, though both were shocked at the new assertiveness of Beirut as seen by Tuesday’s banishment of Iran’s ambassador.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 26 Mar. 2026
Rendered incapable of future flight after crashing in January 2024 and damaging its rotor blade, the 4-pound Ingenuity performed 72 flights for nearly three years at Mars.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
Alvarado was arrested on June 13 and charged with two counts of rape of a person incapable of giving consent and committing a lewd act on a dependent adult related to a June 10 incident, according to the criminal complaint.
—Cierra Morgan, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incapable
Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 30 Mar. 2026
Both view the Lebanese government as still completely incapable of disarming Hezbollah, though both were shocked at the new assertiveness of Beirut as seen by Tuesday’s banishment of Iran’s ambassador.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 26 Mar. 2026
Rendered incapable of future flight after crashing in January 2024 and damaging its rotor blade, the 4-pound Ingenuity performed 72 flights for nearly three years at Mars.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
Alvarado was arrested on June 13 and charged with two counts of rape of a person incapable of giving consent and committing a lewd act on a dependent adult related to a June 10 incident, according to the criminal complaint.
—Cierra Morgan, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incapable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapable
Adjective
-
One of the panelists was Peter Beinart, the writer whose book had been deemed unfit for study at Beth El.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
There’s a longstanding debate about the relative health effects of being overweight versus being aerobically unfit.—
Alex Hutchinson,
Outside,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Across the state in 2025, only five people faced Class 1 or Class 2 felonies, were found permanently incompetent to proceed, and saw their cases dismissed, Turner said.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
5 Apr. 2026
-
If the case takes the course prescribed under the Texas criminal procedure code and if a magistrate or a state district judge finds that Rodriguez-Singh is incompetent, she will likely be ordered admitted to a maximum-security unit at a state hospital for an attempt at competency restoration.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
-
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
-
Following the deadly shooting of two Americans by immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, congressional Democrats have opposed funding ICE and CBP without policy changes, but the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement on reforms.—
Joe Walsh,
CBS News,
4 Apr. 2026
-
In contrast, the Fraternal Order of Eagles advocated for pensions for industrial wage laborers—for people who had worked in jobs that wore out their bodies and left them physically unable to work.—
Trevor Jackson,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incapable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapable. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
