Word of the Day

: June 17, 2014

incongruous

adjective in-KAHN-gruh-wus

What It Means

a : lacking congruity: as

b : not harmonious : incompatible

c : not conforming : disagreeing

d : inconsistent within itself

incongruous in Context

The sight of a horse and carriage amongst the cars on the road was a bit incongruous.

"The main issue is the game's incongruous mix of low-brow presentation and incredibly clever action; each seems to betray the other, but you won't have long to analyze that rift." - Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, May 14, 2014

Did You Know?

"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 verb "congruere," which means "to come together" or "to agree." The dates of the words' first uses in English match up pretty well, too. The first known use of "congruous" dates from 1599, and the earliest print appearance of "incongruous" dates from 1611.