incompetent (ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt
)
Definitions
adjective
- not possessing the necessary ability, skill, etc to do or carry out a task; incapable
- marked by lack of ability, skill, etc
- law not legally qualified ⇒
an incompetent witness
- (of rock strata, folds, etc) yielding readily to pressure so as to undergo structural deformation
noun
- an incompetent person
Alternative Forms
inˈcompetence inˈcompetency noun inˈcompetently adverbSynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
inept,
useless,
incapable,
unable,
cowboy,
floundering,
bungling,
unfit,
unfitted,
ineffectual,
incapacitated,
inexpert,
skill-less,
unskilful,
Translations
- British English:
incompetent
If you describe someone as incompetent, you are criticizing them because they cannot do their job or a task properly.He threatened to fire incompetent employees.ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt ADJECTIVE He threatened to fire incompetent employees.
- Spanish:
incompetente
adj
- French:
incompétent
adj
- German:
unfähig
adj
- Chinese: 不称职的 adj
- Arabic: غَيْرُ كُفُؤٍ adj
- Portuguese: incompetente adj
- Russian: некомпетентный adj некомпетентная
- Croatian: nekompetentan adj nekompetentna
- Czech: neschopný adj
- Danish: uduelig adj
- Dutch: incompetent adj
- Finnish: epäpätevä adj
- Greek: ανίκανος adj ανίκανη
- Italian: incompetente adj
- Japanese: 無能な no_posp
- Korean: 무능한 adj
- Norwegian: udugelig adj
- Polish: niekompetentny adj niekompetentna
- Brazilian Portuguese: incompetente adj
- European Spanish:
incompetente
adj
- Swedish: inkompetent adj
- Thai: ไม่มีความสามารถ adj
- Turkish: yeteneksiz adj
- Vietnamese: thiếu khả năng adj
Usage examples
No matter how incompetent they are, our officials cannot be removed, only transferred.
India Today (1999)He described the President as "flaky, dangerous and incompetent " at the time of the Iraq war.
New Zealand Herald (2003)Lawyers for the teacher had claimed earlier that he was the victim of incompetent officials.
Glasgow Herald (2001)At Hillsborough they were forced to see themselves as helpless and incompetent.
, BEYOND FEAR (2002)