inept adj

1 not elegant or graceful in expression; "an awkward prose style"; "a clumsy apology"; "his cumbersome writing style"; "if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?" [syn: awkward, clumsy, cumbersome, inapt, ill-chosen]

2 generally incompetent and ineffectual; "feckless attempts to repair the plumbing"; "inept handling of the account" [syn: feckless]

3 revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse; "an inept remark"; "it was tactless to bring up those disagreeable" [syn: tactless]

English

Etymology

From inepte.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛpt

Adjective

1. not able to do something; not proficient; displaying incompetence

Antonyms

• skillful

Translations

• Finnish: avuton, taitamaton, kyvytön, osaamaton
• Portuguese: inapto, incapaz, incompetente

Related terms

• apt
• aptitude

apish, artless, asinine, awkward, bad, batty, befooled, beguiled, besotted, brainless, buffoonish, bumbling, bungling, clumsy, cockeyed, crazy, credulous, daffy, daft, dazed, dizzy, doting, dumb, fatuitous, fatuous, flaky, fond, fool, foolheaded, foolish, fuddled, futile, gaga, gauche, goofy, graceless, gulled, half-assed, halting, ham-handed, headless, idiotic, ignorant, ill-adapted, ill-advised, ill-assorted, ill-chosen, ill-considered, ill-fitted, ill-judged, ill-matched, ill-sorted, ill-suited, ill-timed, imbecile, impolitic, improper, imprudent, inadept, inadmissible, inadvisable, inane, inapplicable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, inattentive, incapable, incapable of, incompetent, incongruous, indiscreet, ineffective, inefficient, inexpedient, inexpert, infatuated, infelicitous, inferior, injudicious, inopportune, insane, insensate, irrational, irrelevant, kooky, lackbrained, lean-minded, lean-witted, loony, lumbering, mad, mal a propos, maladjusted, maladroit, malapropos, maudlin, mediocre, mindless, misguided, misjoined, mismatched, mismated, misplaced, moronic, not bright, nutty, of little brain, out of character, out of joint, out of keeping, out of line, out of place, out of proportion, out of season, out of time, out of tune, pea-brained, pedestrian, pin-brained, poor, reasonless, sappy, screwy, senseless, sentimental, silly, skill-less, slackminded, slackwitted, stupid, thoughtless, unable, unable to, unadapted, unadvised, unapt, unbecoming, unbefitting, undeft, undesirable, undexterous, undextrous, undiplomatic, undue, unendowed, unfacile, unfit, unfitted, unfitting, unfortunate, ungainly, ungifted, unhandy, unhappy, unintellectual, unintelligent, unmeet, unproficient, unprofitable, unqualified, unreasoning, unseasonable, unseemly, unskilled, unskillful, unsuitable, unsuited, untalented, unthinking, untimely, unwise, unworkmanlike, wacky, wet, witless, wooden, wrong