Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Incongruous |
IncongruousAdjective1. Lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness; "a plan incongruous with reason"; "incongruous behavior"; "a joke that was incongruous with polite conversation". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "incongruous" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1615. (references) |
Etymology: Incongruous \In*con"gru*ous\, adjective. [Latin expression incongruus. See In- not, and Congruous.]. (references) |
Synonyms: IncongruousSynonyms: absurd, disagreeing, improper, inappropriate, inharmonious, unfit, unsuitable. (additional references) |
| Antonym: congruous (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Disagreement | Adjective: disagreeing; Verb: discordant, discrepant; at variance, at war; hostile, antagonistic, repugnant, incompatible, irreconcilable, inconsistent with; unconformable, exceptional; intrusive, incongruous; disproportionate, disproportionated; inharmonious, unharmonious; inconsonant, unconsonant; divergent, repugnant to. |
Solecism | Adjective: ungrammatical; incorrect, inaccurate; faulty; improper, incongruous; solecistic, solecistical. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Incongruous |
| English words defined with "incongruous": Absonous, As it were ♦ Discorrespondent ♦ grotesque, grotesqueness, grotesquerie, grotesquery ♦ hodgepodge ♦ Incompatible terms, Inconcinne, Incongruous numbers, incongruously, inharmonious ♦ jumble ♦ Olla-podrida ♦ patchwork, phantasmagoric, phantasmagorical ♦ quaint ♦ surreal, surrealism, surrealistic ♦ Unconsonant. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "incongruous": coal dust ♦ Funny ♦ Olia Podrida. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | ![]() | Shrimp trawlers and cactus - a seemingly incongruous but normal sight in south Texas. Credit: Fisheries. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
George Eliot | But human experience is usually paradoxical, that means incongruous with the phrases of current talk or even current philosophy. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| "Incongruous" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.45% of the time. "Incongruous" is used about 181 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.45% | 180 | 23,046 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.55% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 181 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "incongruous": Incongruous numbers. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
incongruous | 13 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "incongruous"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | i papajtueshëm (discordant, dissonant, divergent, implacable, incompatible, inconsistent, inconsonant, intransigent, irreconcilable, relentless, unappeasable), i papërshtatshëm (ill timed, ill-placed, ill-sorted, ill-suited, improper, inadequate, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, inconvenient, indecorous, ineligible, inept, infelicitous, out of place, reject, unadaptable, unapt, unbecoming, unbefitting, undesirable, undue, unequal, unfavorable, unfavourable, unmeet, unsuitable, unsuited, unusable, wrong). (various references) | |
Arabic | متنافر (conflicting, discordant, disharmonious, dissonant, grotesque, incoherent, incompatible, inconsistent, inharmonious, jarring), متناقص (decreasing, decrescent, flagging, tapering, waney), متضارب (clashing, conflicting, disagreeing, discordant, incompatible, inconsistent, irreconcilable, opposite), لا معنى له (meaningless, senseless, unmeaning), غير مناسب (ill timed, improper, inadvisable, inappropriate, inept, inexpedient, undue, wrong), غير لائق (indecent, unbecoming, uncomely, unhandsome, unseemly, unsuitable). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | в разрез (out of turn), в противоречие, несъгласуван (discordant, incoordinate, unco-ordinated), несъвместим (conflicting, inconsistent, irreconcilable, repugnant, unsuited), неуместен (ill-judged, impertinent, improper, inapposite, inappropriate, inconsequent, inept, inexpedient, injudicious, inopportune, irrelevant, mistaken, out of place, unadvised, uncalled for, unfortunate, unseasonable, unsuitable), нелеп (absurd, farcical, fatuous, inane, inept, ludicrous, nonsensical, preposterous, ridiculous, screwy). (various references) | |
Chinese | 不合适 (ineptitude, unfit, unsuitability, unsuitable). (various references) | |
Czech | nevhodný (clumsy, ill timed, impolitic, improper, inadequate, inadvisable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, inconvenient, ineligible, inexpedient, inopportune, misbecoming, off-key, unappropriated, unapt, unbecoming, uncalled for, undesirable, undue, unfit, unlikely, unlucky, unseasonable, unseemly, unsuitable, untimely), nemístný (inopportune, irrelevant, unbecoming, uncalled for, undue, unsuitable, untimely, unwarranted). (various references) | |
Farsi | نامتجانس . (various references) | |
Finnish | epäyhdenmukainen, epävire. (various references) | |
French | inconvenable (inapposite), incongru, incompatible (incompatible, inconsistent), sans rapport avec, peu approprié à, absurde (inept). (various references) | |
German | unvereinbar (dissonant, incompatible, inconsistent, inconsistently, irreconcilable), unpassend (ill timed, improper, inapposite, inappropriate, inappropriately, inapt, incongruously, indecorous, indecorously, inept, ineptly, inexpedient, inexpediently, infelicitous, inopportune, unbefitting, unfitting, unfittingly, unpassable, unsuitable, unsuitably, untimely, untoward). (various references) | |
Greek | άτοποσ (absurd, inept), ανάρμοστοσ (improper, inept, inexpedient, unbecoming, unbefitting, ungentlemanly, unneighborly, unneighbourly, unsuited), αταίριαστοσ (dissimilar, jarring, nonesuch, odd). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לא מתאים (improper, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, inept, unequal). (various references) | |
Hungarian | oda nem illő, nem egybevágó, nem összeillõ, összhangban nem álló, össze nem illő (incongruent). (various references) | |
Indonesian | tak pantas. (various references) | |
Italian | incongruo (unsuitable), incongruente (inconsequent, inconsistent). (various references) | |
Korean | 일치하지 않는. (various references) | |
Manx | neuyesh (clumsy, improper, inapplicable, incorrect, inelegant, unbecoming, undesirable), neuchooie (inapplicable, inappropriate, inconvenient, indecent, ineligible, inordinate, out of place, undesirable, unfit), meereggyragh (disparate, ill-matched, irresponsible), meehraaoil (ill-timed, inapt, inept, inexpedient, inopportune, misplaced, out of place). (various references) | |
Norwegian | urimelig (exorbitant), uoverstemmende. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | incongruousay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | inconveniente (abuse, drawback, fie-fie, harm, improper, inconvenience, inconvenient, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, inexpedient, inopportune, scurrilous, unbecoming, unbefitting, undesirable, unprintable, unseemly, unsuitable, untoward), incngruo, incongruente (absurd, contradictory, ill-placed, inconsecutive, inconsequent), incompatvel (ill-placed, incompatible, inconsistent), inarmnico (ill-placed, inharmonious), imprprio (ill, ill-treat, improper, inadequate, inappropriate, inapt, incapable, inconvenient), deslocado (amiss, disjointed, ill-placed, ill-treat, inappropriate, offset, strained, timeless, unbeseeming, uncalled-for, unmeet, unsuitable), absurdo (absurd, absurdity, bloodcurdling, foolish, ill-placed, impertinent, inept, irrational, ludicrous, monstrous, nonsense, nonsensical, preposterous, ragtime, ridiculous, rubbish, unreason). (various references) | |
Romanian | incompatibil (conflicting, incompatible, irreconcilable, warring), inarmonic, nepotrivit (awkward, bad, discordant, dissonant, ill-matched, ill-sorted, improper, inadequate, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incapable, inconsistent, incorrect, ineligible, inept, inexpedient, infelicitous, inopportune, insufficient, intrusive, irrelevant, malapropos, misbecoming, off color, off colour, out of character, out of date, out of point, timeless, unapt, unbecoming, uncalled for, uncomely, undue, unequal, unfit, unmeet, unseasonable, untimely, unwarranted), nelalocul lui (Amiss, infelicitous, malapropos, out of place), necorespunzãtor (abnormal, ill, improper, inadequate, inappropriate, incommensurate, unsatisfactory), nearmonios (ajar, disharmonious, inharmonic), distonant (clashing, discordant, dissonant), în dezacord. (various references) | |
Russian | неуместный (ill-placed, impertinent, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, inept, injudicious, inopportune, irrelative, irrelevant, mistaken, out of place, uncalled for, uncalled-for, unseasonable), несовместимый (incompatible, inconsistent, repugnant), несоответственный. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | nepodudaran, nepodesan (discordant, impaired, improper, inappropriate, inapt, inconvenient, inept, inexpedient, quaint, unaccommodating, unapt, unbefitting, undue, unsuitable, unsuited). (various references) | |
Spanish | incongruente. (various references) | |
Swedish | orimlig (absurd, exorbitant, extortionate, extravagant, fantastic, fantastical, irrational, ludicrous, preposterous, senseless, unconscionable, unreasonable), oförenlig (alien, contradictory, discordant, incompatible, inconsistent, inconsonant, irreconcilable). (various references) | |
Turkish | yersiz (Amiss, baseless, beside the point, digressive, discursive, idle, ill timed, impertinent, improper, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, indecent, indiscreet, inept, inexpedient, infelicitous, injudicious, inopportune, irrelevant, malapropos, out of place, out of turn, uncalled for, uncomely, undue, unhappy, unjustifiable, unseasonable, untimely, untoward, unwarranted), uyumsuz (discordant, disharmonious, dissonant, ill-assorted, ill-matched, inadaptable, incompatible, inconsonant, inharmonious, jarring, maladjusted, out of tune, tuneless, unadaptable, unadapted, unharmonious, unmusical, untuned), uygunsuz (derogatory, illegitimate, impolitic, improper, inapposite, inappropriate, inconvenient, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, ineligible, inexpedient, infelicitous, malapropos, near the knuckle, obnoxious, unbecoming, unbefitting, unbeseeming, uncalled for, unchristian, uncomely, unhandsome, unpropitious, unseemly, unsuitable, untoward, wrong), saçma (absurd, applesauce, balls, baloney, blind, boloney, bunk, bunkum, chimerical, claptrap, cockeyed, dissemination, eradiation, fantastic, fantastical, farcical, fatuous, fiddle, fiddle-de-dee, fiddlesticks, foolish, for the birds, froth, frothy, fudge, go on, hog-wash, hooey, impertinent, inane, inept, irrational, jabber wocky, kibosh, laugh, malarkey, nonsense, nonsensical, outlandish, paltry, pointless, poppycock, raving, rhubarb, rot, scattering, senseless, shot, shucks, skittles, small shot, smearcase, sorry, spinach, stuff, tommyrot, tosh, trash, trifling, tripe, trivial, trumpery, unreasonable, wacky, waffle, whacky), farklı (a far cry, a far cry from, another, different, discrete, disparate, dissimilar, distinct, divergent, diverse, divided, hetero-, incompatible, otherwise, unlike, variant, varied), aykırı (anomalous, anti-, antithetic, antithetical, athwart, contradictious, contradictory, counter, crossways, crosswise, gainst, heterodox, impolitic, inconsistent, repugnant, thwart, transverse), acayip (antic, bizarre, bughouse, comical, comically, crotchety, curious, droll, exotic, fanciful, fantastic, fantastical, flaky, freak, freakish, grotesque, kinky, kooky, novel, odd, out of the way, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, quizzical, rum, rummy, screwball, singular, some, splendiferous, strange, uncanny, unco, unusual, weird). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | невідповідний (anomalous, contradictory, discrepant, disharmonious, inadequate, inappropriate, incoherent, incommensurate, unequal), недоречний (ill timed, ill-placed, impertinent, impolitic, inapposite, inappropriate, inconsequent, inconsequential, irrelevant, mistaken, uncalled for, unhappy). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "incongruous": incongruously, incongruousness, incongruousnesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Incongruous" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: incogruous, incongrous, incongrueous, incongruious, incongruos, incongurous, uncongruous. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "incongruous" (pronounced i'ngkô"ngruwus) |
| 3 | -uw u s | ambiguous, arduous, conspicuous, contemptuous, contiguous, continuous, deciduous, disingenuous, ingenuous, innocuous, strenuous, tempestuous, tumultuous, vacuous, virtuous. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-g-i-n-n-o-o-r-s-u-u" | |
-2 letters: congruous, consignor, innocuous. | |
-3 letters: coursing, crooning, grunions, scorning, scouring, sourcing, unicorns. | |
-4 letters: congius, congous, consign, corning, curious, cursing, grunion, nocuous, noosing, nuncios, nursing, ronions, roosing, rousing, ruinous, scoring, snoring, sorning, souring, uncinus, unicorn, urinous. | |
-5 letters: cogons, coigns, congos, congou, coning, conins, cooing, corgis, coring, cornus, cosign, cousin, croons, curing, curios, girons, gonion, grison, groins. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-g-i-n-n-o-o-r-s-u-u" | |
+2 letters: incongruously. | |
+4 letters: incongruousness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.