Inept

How to spell inept

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce inept

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inept mean?

1. adjectiveLacking skill or competence; clumsy and ineffective at something.

Inept in a sentence

• The contractor proved utterly inept at finishing the job on time.

• His inept attempt to fix the printer only made things worse.

Where does inept come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin ineptus, which combined in- meaning 'not' with aptus meaning 'fitted' or 'suitable', the past participle of the verb apere 'to fasten or attach'. So at its root, an inept person is literally someone who is 'not fitted' to the task at hand. English adopted it in the early 1600s, originally meaning unsuitable or absurd before settling into its modern sense of clumsy and lacking skill. The very same aptus root gives us the everyday word 'apt', meaning well suited, and also 'aptitude'; inept is simply its negative twin. Notice that the spelling keeps a single 'n' and an 'e' rather than the 'a' of 'apt', because the Latin prefix vowel shifted, a small trap for anyone who expects 'inapt' instead.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• ept (from Latin aptus: fitted, suitable)