as in unfit
lacking qualities (as knowledge, skill, or ability) required to do a job
an incompetent carpenter had built the deck, and the railings were loose already
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incompetent
Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
Eleven former youth counselors have been arrested since the attorney general's office began investigating the facility in 2019, though charges against one were dropped, another was found incompetent to stand trial and a third died awaiting trial.
—CBS News, 22 Mar. 2025
The police department’s insufficient and incompetent investigation cannot stand.
—Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 8 Apr. 2025
After almost a year of being declared incompetent, her trial began in April 2023.
—Miguel Torres, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incompetent
Adjective
But the people tasked with executing it were dangerously incompetent.
—Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
Eleven former youth counselors have been arrested since the attorney general's office began investigating the facility in 2019, though charges against one were dropped, another was found incompetent to stand trial and a third died awaiting trial.
—CBS News, 22 Mar. 2025
The police department’s insufficient and incompetent investigation cannot stand.
—Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 8 Apr. 2025
After almost a year of being declared incompetent, her trial began in April 2023.
—Miguel Torres, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incompetent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incompetent
Adjective
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Its troubles began in 2022 after regulators declared the company unfit to operate its casinos following media reports of money laundering at its properties.—
Yessar Rosendar,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
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Just like an organization being certain that other players are unfit for the harsh glare of intense games in April.—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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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,
24 Apr. 2025
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The choice was viewed by many at the school as the latest affront in a long history of treating the deaf as incapable of functioning without help from the hearing.—
David Owen,
New Yorker,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Yes, ancient human butchers wielding stone tools would leave marks on bone.—
Briana Pobiner,
The Conversation,
11 Apr. 2025
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The meat and sausages come from the nearby butcher, and the cheese is from the type of local dairy that brags about its cows’ diet of pasture grasses and hay.—
Ann Abel,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incompetent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incompetent. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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