incongruous

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UK/ɪnˈkɒn.ɡɹʊu.ʌs/UK/ɪnˈkɒŋ.ɹʊu.ʌs/US/ɪnˈkɑn.ɡɹu.əs/US/ɪŋˈkɑŋ.ɡɹu.əs/

adjective

Not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.

Opposite

Meanings

adjectiveincongruous (comparative more incongruous, superlative most incongruous)

comparative more incongruous · superlative most incongruous

  1. Not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.

    [P]erhaps he thought me, with my basket of summer fruit, and my lack of the dignity age confers, an incongruous figure in such a scene.

    1853 January, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter 34, in Villette. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC
    4 more examples

    Ona was blue-eyed and fair, while Jurgis had great black eyes with beetling brows, and thick black hair that curled in waves about his ears—in short, they were one of those incongruous and impossible married couples with which Mother Nature so often wills to confound all prophets.

    1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter I, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC

    Ardent suns had likewise tanned his face till it was swarthy as a Spaniard's. The yellow mustache appeared incongruous in the midst of such swarthiness.

    1912, Jack London, chapter 1, in A Son Of The Sun

    A slightly incongruous note is struck by the National Westminster Bank beside the Vine [pub], a tiny dolls' house of a building, about the size of a garden shed, in herringbone-patterned brick.

    1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 202, about Goudhurst, Kent

    For a few moments England toyed with the idea of making it a more difficult night than necessary. Scotland had scored a goal that seemed incongruous to the rest of their performance and, briefly, a fiercely partisan crowd sensed an improbable comeback.

    2014 November 18, Daniel Taylor, “England and Wayne Rooney see off Scotland in their own back yard”, in The Guardian
  2. mathematicsOf two numbers, with respect to a third, such that their difference can not be divided by it without a remainder.

    20 and 25 are incongruous with respect to 4.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivelacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinincongruus
  2. Englishincongruous

From Latin incongruus, from in- (“not”) + congruus (“congruent”), equivalent to in- + congruous.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian несъвместим, несъответстващ
  • несъвместим (nesăvmestim)not matching
  • несъответстващ (nesăotvetstvašt)not matching
Catalan incongruent, incongru
  • incongruentnot matching
  • incongrunot matching
Czech nezapadající, nehodící se
  • nezapadajícínot matching
  • nehodící senot matching
  • neslučitelnýnot matching
  • nepřípadnýnot matching
Dutch ongepast
  • ongepastnot matching
Esperanto malakorda, miskongrua
  • malakordanot matching
  • miskongruanot matching
Finnish sopimaton, epäjohdonmukainen
  • sopimatonnot matching
  • epäjohdonmukainennot matching
  • ristiriitainennot matching
French incongru
  • incongrunot matching
German unpassend, unvereinbar
  • unpassendnot matching
  • unvereinbarnot matching
  • uneinheitlichnot matching
  • ungleichnot matching
  • disparatnot matching
  • nicht zusammenpassendnot matching
Greek αταίριαστος, ανάρμοστος
  • αταίριαστος (ataíriastos)not matching
  • ανάρμοστος (anármostos)not matching
Italian incongruo
  • incongruonot matching
Japanese 不調和
  • 不調和 (fuchōwa)not matching
Latin alienus
  • alienusnot matching
Portuguese incongruente
  • incongruentenot matching
Romanian incongruent
  • incongruentnot matching
Russian неуме́стный, неподходя́щий
  • неуме́стный (neuméstnyj)not matching
  • неподходя́щий (nepodxodjáščij)not matching
Spanish incongruente
  • incongruentenot matching
Turkish uyumsuz
  • uyumsuznot matching
Cite this entry
APA

incongruous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incongruous

MLA

“incongruous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incongruous. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incongruous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incongruous.

Source: incongruous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.