Word of the Day

: November 9, 2024

inchoate

adjective in-KOH-ut

What It Means

Inchoate is a formal adjective that describes something that is not completely formed or developed yet.

// In the podcast, the author described the process by which she took a series of inchoate vignettes and shaped them into her best-selling novel.

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inchoate in Context

"Graffiti inserts itself like the blade of a knife between creation and destruction, between publicity and furtiveness, between word and image, cartoon, icon, and hieroglyph. … That its meaning is inchoate is part of the point. If you can explain it, you probably don't understand." — Jonathan Lethem, Cellophane Bricks: A Life in Visual Culture, 2024

Did You Know?

Inchoate is most often used to describe something that is not, or not yet, completely formed or developed. It's a formal word that's sure to add pizzazz to any conversation—but only if you start working on pronouncing it correctly. The first two letters of inchoate do what you’d expect—exactly what the word in does. However, the choate in inchoate does not share the first sound of chair, nor does it rhyme with oat. Instead, it shares the first sound of cat, and rhymes with poet. Inchoate came to English in the 16th century from the Latin adjective incohātus, meaning "only begun, unfinished, imperfect," which in turn comes from a form of the verb incohāre, meaning "to start work on."