incongruous
adjective
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Incongruous is a spin-off of its antonym, congruous, which means "in agreement, harmony, or correspondence." Etymologists are in agreement about the origin of both words: they trace to the Latin congruus, from the verb congruere, which means "to come together" or "to agree." The dates of these words' first uses in English match up pretty well, too. Both words are first known to have appeared in English in the early 1580s.
Synonyms
Examples of incongruous in a Sentence
Hugh C. McDonald, The Hour of the Blue Fox, 1975
… it would be as incongruous to meet her at the end of a chapter as it would be to see the dawn break in the west …
—Herman Wouk, Aurora Dawn, 1947
He ate enormously, with a zest which seemed incongruous with his spare frame.
—Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark, 1915
His outburst seemed incongruous to those who know him well.
there's an incongruous modernism to the actor's performance in this period piece
Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 25 Mar. 2024
If that makes the Troisgros family seem an incongruous choice of subject for this most class-conscious of American filmmakers, Wiseman has never been one to shy away from contradictions.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2023
In Alps, the actors and their patrons treat the macabre service as commonplace and routine, behaving with an emotional detachment that feels incongruous with the strange situation.
—Allaire Nuss, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2024
On its face, BlackRock’s Voting Choice is incongruous with the firm’s commitment to stakeholder capitalism.
—Peter Vanham, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2024
Suffering is so incongruous with the good order that people prefer.
—Diane Scharper, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
If the mix seems incongruous, then consider the objective achieved.
—Scarlett Conlon, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024
On the other hand, celebrity endorsements that seem incongruous with the celebrity’s public persona or skill set have faced more scrutiny.
—Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
While the image looks unobjectionable at first glance, careful viewers soon zoomed in on specific and incongruous background details in the lab that showed telltale errors common to some AI image generators.
—Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incongruous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Late Latin incongruus, from Latin in- + congruus congruous
1582, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Incongruous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incongruous. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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incongruous
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on incongruous
Nglish: Translation of incongruous for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of incongruous for Arabic Speakers
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