Incompetent

How to spell incompetent

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce incompetent

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does incompetent mean?

1. adjectiveLacking the skill, ability, or qualification to do something properly.
2. nounA person who is unable to do their job or a task adequately.

Incompetent in a sentence

• adjective

  The report blamed an incompetent contractor for the faulty wiring.

• noun

  The manager dismissed him as an incompetent who could not follow simple instructions.

• adjective

  Customers complained that the incompetent service had ruined their booking.

• noun

  Everyone on the team regarded the new supervisor as an incompetent.

Where does incompetent come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin competens, meaning 'suitable' or 'fitting', which was the present participle of the verb competere. That verb combined com-, meaning 'together', with petere, meaning 'to seek, strive for, or aim at', so the original idea was of things coming together or meeting appropriately; what was 'competent' literally fell into place properly. The negative form incompetens, with the prefix in- meaning 'not', described something unsuitable or not having the proper qualification. English took the word in the late 1500s, partly through French, first in a legal sense of lacking the right authority or standing, and only later in the broader everyday sense of lacking the skill to do a job well. The very same petere root survives in relatives such as 'compete', 'petition', and 'appetite'. The common spelling trap is the unstressed ending, which sounds like a vague 'unt' and tempts writers toward '-ant', when the correct vowel here is the 'e' of -ent.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• com- (together)
• pet (from petere: to seek, strive, be suitable)
• -ent (adjective suffix)