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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incompetent
Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 16 May 2026
In April, she was found incompetent to stand trial and ordered to a state hospital for competency restoration, the district attorney's office said.
—Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 15 May 2026
Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incompetent
Adjective
She was found incompetent to stand trial in April 2026 and was ordered to a state hospital, the FBI said.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 16 May 2026
In April, she was found incompetent to stand trial and ordered to a state hospital for competency restoration, the district attorney's office said.
—Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 15 May 2026
Noun
The Dodgers reached the pinnacle honestly, in a capitalistic structure that properly hands no favors to the incompetent.
—Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incompetent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incompetent
Adjective
-
Kabuga, somewhere in his 90s — his age is disputed — and suffering from severe dementia, had been forced to remain in the United Nations detention facility in The Hague after he was found unfit to stand trial in 2023 as no country was willing to take him in, prolonging the case against him.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 May 2026
-
Paxton, meanwhile, has sought to cast Cornyn as a creature of the Washington establishment, while Cornyn has attacked Paxton as unfit for office, pointing to his years of legal and political controversy, including his 2023 impeachment by the Texas House.—
Luke Fountain,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
Adjective
-
Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
-
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
-
This often surprises people because, biologically speaking, humans aren’t entirely incapable of detecting UV light.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
-
More than half the field was involved in crashes during the first two segments, eliminating Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain and leaving Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson with damaged cars incapable of contending.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
The modern kitchen has butcher-block counters and an arched wood dining nook, and the primary suite includes a three-sided fireplace and oxygenation to counter high altitude.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
25 May 2026
-
McIntosh was also a butcher in the custom meat market at Roy Pope.—
Bud Kennedy,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 May 2026
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 31 May. 2026.
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