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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incompetent
Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 24 Oct. 2025
Last year, Bacon was found incompetent to stand trial and transferred to a state psychiatric hospital.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
All of the charges were ultimately discharged after she was found incompetent for court proceedings by a doctor.
—David Clarey, jsonline.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Look only to the Bengals, Panthers, Browns and Jets, Sunday’s opponent, for examples of what can go wrong with owners with short pockets, short tempers and/or outsized influence from the unqualified and incompetent.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incompetent
Adjective
And the Vikings’ offense on Thursday bordered on incompetent.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 24 Oct. 2025
Last year, Bacon was found incompetent to stand trial and transferred to a state psychiatric hospital.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
All of the charges were ultimately discharged after she was found incompetent for court proceedings by a doctor.
—David Clarey, jsonline.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Look only to the Bengals, Panthers, Browns and Jets, Sunday’s opponent, for examples of what can go wrong with owners with short pockets, short tempers and/or outsized influence from the unqualified and incompetent.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incompetent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incompetent
Adjective
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Miyares referenced a Richmond Times-Dispatch report of a Virginia trooper clocking Jones at 116 miles per hour, framing him as unfit to enforce the law.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The Bush and Quayle team won the 1988 election, but the impression of Quayle as unfit for the job remained a drag on Bush’s reputation.—
Time,
Time,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The girl seems incapable of forming a malicious thought, much less serving as the incarnation of evil, and that’s what makes the choice so apt for a film in which a simple, seemingly innocent desire — to live as an ordinary man — threatens to draw Jesus from his destiny.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Gilligan is probably incapable of saccharine.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In 1872, Campbell represented a group of white New Orleans butchers who claimed that efforts by Louisiana’s Reconstruction legislature to regulate their industry violated their Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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Marrow in Market will produce various raw meat cuts from its full-service butcher shop and specialty items.—
Susan Selasky,
Freep.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
For more instant gratification, grab a muddler (or the back of a wooden spoon or the end of a rolling pin).—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
Denver Post,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incompetent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incompetent. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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