Meanings
comparative more inept · superlative most inept
- Not able to do something; not proficient; displaying incompetence.
As a waiter, he was inept, so they put him in the kitchen.
1 more example
Stewing over recent legal defeats, he [Donald Trump] spent Sunday night posting a series of rambling rants assailing the “completely inept and embarrassing” Supreme Court, the “Deranged” former special counsel, […] and “a Wacky, Nasty, Crooked, and totally Out of Control Judge” who ruled against him.
2026 March 16, Peter Baker, “In Choosing ‘Epic Fury,’ Trump Names a War and Defines His Presidency”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC - Unfit; unsuitable.
1 more example
The bungled phrase, the slipshod paragraph, the inept metaphor, the irrelevant excursion, the disproportionate development, the feeble conclusion, are indeed all failures of meaning, and the more poetically ambitious the verbal structure in which they occur, the deeper and more substantive the failure may be.
1954, W. K. Wimsatt, The Verbal Icon, University Press of Kentucky, page xiii
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot elegant or graceful in expression
adjectivegenerally incompetent and ineffectual
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinineptus
- Middle Frenchinepte
- Englishinept
Borrowed from Middle French inepte, from Latin ineptus, from in- + aptus (whence English apt).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian неумел, некадърен
- неумел (neumel)not able to do something
- некадърен (nekadăren)not able to do something
- неподходящ (nepodhodjašt)unfit, unsuitable
- неуместен (neumesten)unfit, unsuitable
Catalan inepte
- ineptenot able to do something
Chinese Cantonese 無能嘅 /无能嘅, 笨拙嘅
- 無能嘅 /无能嘅 (mou⁴ nang⁴ ke³)not able to do something
- 笨拙嘅 (ban⁶ zyut³ ge³)not able to do something
- 唔適當嘅 /唔适当嘅 (m⁴ sik¹ dong³ ge³)unfit, unsuitable
Chinese Mandarin 無能的 /无能的, 笨拙的
- 無能的 /无能的 (wúnéng de)not able to do something
- 笨拙的 (bènzhuō de)not able to do something
- 不適當的 /不适当的 (bùshìdàng de)unfit, unsuitable
Czech neschopný, nešikovný
- neschopnýnot able to do something
- nešikovnýnot able to do something
- neobratnýnot able to do something
- nevhodnýunfit, unsuitable
- nejapnýunfit, unsuitable
Dutch ongeschikt, onbekwaam
- ongeschiktnot able to do something
- onbekwaamnot able to do something
Estonian ebapädev, saamatu
- ebapädevnot able to do something
- saamatunot able to do something
- soss-seppnot able to do something
- asjatundmatunot able to do something
- ebapädevunfit, unsuitable
- sobimatuunfit, unsuitable
Finnish avuton, taitamaton
- avutonnot able to do something
- taitamatonnot able to do something
- kyvytönnot able to do something
- osaamatonnot able to do something
French inepte
- ineptenot able to do something
German unfähig, ungeeignet
- unfähignot able to do something
- ungeeignetunfit, unsuitable
- untauglichunfit, unsuitable
Greek ανίκανος, άχρηστος
- ανίκανος (aníkanos)not able to do something
- άχρηστος (áchristos)not able to do something
Hindi कुकृय
- कुकृय (kukŕy)not able to do something
Hungarian alkalmatlan, célszerűtlen
- alkalmatlannot able to do something
- célszerűtlenunfit, unsuitable
Italian inetto
- inettonot able to do something
Japanese 不向きな, 苦手な
- 不向きな (fumuki na)not able to do something
- 苦手な (nigate na)not able to do something
- 弱い (yowai)not able to do something
- 不向きな (fumuki na)unfit, unsuitable
- 不適な (futeki na)unfit, unsuitable
- 不適当な (futekitō na)unfit, unsuitable
Māori koretake, hakorea
- koretakenot able to do something
- hakoreanot able to do something
- pakihawanot able to do something
- rapanot able to do something
Norwegian talentløs, udugelig
- talentløsnot able to do something
- udugelignot able to do something
- uskikketnot able to do something
Polish neptek, nieudolny
- nepteknot able to do something
- nieudolnynot able to do something
- niezaradnynot able to do something
Portuguese inapto, incapaz
- inaptonot able to do something
- incapaznot able to do something
- incompetentenot able to do something
Romanian incompetent, incapabil
- incompetentnot able to do something
- incapabilnot able to do something
Russian неуме́лый, неспосо́бный
- неуме́лый (neumélyj)not able to do something
- неспосо́бный (nesposóbnyj)not able to do something
- него́дный (negódnyj)unfit, unsuitable
Scottish Gaelic baoth
- baothnot able to do something
Spanish inepto, incapaz
- ineptonot able to do something
- incapaznot able to do something
Turkish beceriksiz, yeteneksiz
- beceriksiznot able to do something
- yeteneksiznot able to do something
Ukrainian невмі́лий
- невмі́лий (nevmílyj)not able to do something
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with inept
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
inept. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inept
“inept.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inept. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inept,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inept.
Source: inept on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.