Incompetence

Noun

 * 1) Inability to perform; lack of competence; ineptitude.
 * 2) * 1851: Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
 * ... at the head of a crew, too, chiefly made up of mongrel renegades, and castaways, and cannibals--morally enfeebled also, by the incompetence of mere unaided virtue or right-mindedness in Starbuck
 * 1) * 1949: George Orwell, 1984
 * Winston did not know why Withers had been disgraced. Perhaps it was for corruption or incompetence. Perhaps Big Brother was merely getting rid of a too-popular subordinate.
 * 1) * 1974: Ursula Leguin, The Dispossessed
 * The factory where she worked was a poisonous mass of incompetence, favoritism, and sabotage.

Verbs for Incompetence
cure—; decry—; denounce—; diminish—; display—; eliminate—; exclude—; maim with—; object to—; overcome—; remedy—; remove—; —arises; —corrupts; —cramps; —cripples; —hampers; —hinders; —prevails; —unnerves; —weakens.

Thesaurus
ad lib, baseness, deficiency, disability, disablement, disqualification, extemporaneousness, failure, falling short, faultiness, fewness, imbecility, imperfection, improvisation, inability, inadeptness, inadequacy, inadequateness, inaptitude, inaptness, inattentiveness, incapability, incapacitation, incapacity, incompetency, indexterity, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, inefficiency, ineptitude, ineptness, infancy, inferiority, insufficiency, insufficientness, lack of preparation, legal incapacity, littleness, maladjustment, maladroitness, meanness, mediocrity, minority, none to spare, nonfulfillment, nonpreparation, nonpreparedness, nonsatisfaction, pedestrianism, pettiness, planlessness, rustiness, shabbiness, short supply, skill-lessness, smallness, subnormality, thoughtlessness, too late, too little, triviality, unaptness, uncleverness, undeftness, undexterousness, undextrousness, unfitness, unfittedness, unintelligence, unpreparedness, unproficiency, unqualification, unqualifiedness, unreadiness, unschooledness, unskillfulness, unsuitability, unsuitableness, unsuitedness, untrainedness, uselessness, vulgarity, vulnerability, wardship

Translations

 * Dutch: incompetentie
 * Finnish: epäpätevyys, taitamattomuus
 * French:
 * German:


 * Polish: incompetencja
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:

Related terms

 * competency
 * incompentency