incongruity

noun

in·​con·​gru·​i·​ty ˌin-kən-ˈgrü-ə-tē How to pronounce incongruity (audio)
-ˌkän-
plural incongruities
1
: the quality or state of being incongruous
2
: something that is incongruous

Example Sentences

she's an incongruity: an impeccably groomed woman who keeps a messy house
Recent Examples on the Web The incongruity was enough to remind a viewer of The Maverick. Hazlitt, 17 May 2023 What made Fleshman’s comments particularly funny was their incongruity. Mythili G. Rao, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2023 The shocking incongruity of Uber’s pricing in particular went viral when Sunny Madra, vice-president of Ford’s accelerator program, posted screenshots of a Wednesday morning ride from midtown Manhattan to JFK Airport that cost $248.90 — about as much as his flight to San Francisco. Alissa Walker, Curbed, 4 June 2021 Hesse strived in the late 1960s to create hybrid objects that transcended painting and sculpture, both embracing and eschewing the dominant Minimalist language of repetitive forms and hard edges, while celebrating her passion for materiality and incongruity. Natasha Gural, Forbes, 12 July 2022 In The Idiot, the jokes come often and freely, and are propelled not through punchlines but the incongruities of everyday life. Vulture, 4 Apr. 2023 Loosely inspired by the story of the actual last remaining Blockbuster (also the subject of a Netflix documentary entitled The Last Blockbuster), Blockbuster clearly doesn’t want its audience to dwell on the incongruity of a streaming series trading on nostalgia for a brick-and-mortar retail chain. Vikram Murthi, Chron, 3 Nov. 2022 The incongruity is hard to stomach. WIRED, 23 Mar. 2023 But the latest and maybe last Wick also leans into the comic (and comic-book) incongruity of the material. A.a. Dowd, Chron, 14 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incongruity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of incongruity was circa 1532

Dictionary Entries Near incongruity

Cite this Entry

“Incongruity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incongruity. Accessed 28 May. 2023.

More from Merriam-Webster on incongruity

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!