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incompetent

Syllabification: (in·com·pe·tent)
Translate incompetent | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of incompetent

adjective

  • not having or showing the necessary skills to do something successfully:a forgetful and utterly incompetent assistant
  • Law not qualified to act in a particular capacity:the patient is deemed legally incompetent
  • Medicine (especially of a valve or sphincter) not able to perform its function.

noun

  • an incompetent person.

Derivatives

incompetently

adverb

Origin:

late 16th century (in the sense 'not legally competent'): from French, or from late Latin incompetent-, from in- 'not' + Latin competent- 'being fit or proper' (see competent)

incompetent in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of incompetent in the British & World English dictionary
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