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inept

   Also found in: Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
in·ept  (n-pt)
adj.
1. Not apt or fitting; inappropriate.
2.
a. Displaying a lack of judgment, sense, or reason; foolish: an inept remark.
b. Bungling or clumsy; incompetent: inept handling of the account.

[Latin ineptus : in-, not; see in-1 + aptus, suitable; see apt.]

in·eptly adv.
in·eptness n.

inept [ɪnˈɛpt]
adj
1. awkward, clumsy, or incompetent
2. not suitable, appropriate, or fitting; out of place
[from Latin ineptus, from in-1 + aptus fitting, suitable]
ineptitude  n
ineptly  adv
ineptness  n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.inept - not elegant or graceful in expression; "an awkward prose style"; "a clumsy apology"; "his cumbersome writing style"; "if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?"
infelicitous - not appropriate in application; defective; "an infelicitous remark"; "infelicitous phrasing"; "the infelicitous typesetting was due to illegible copy"
2.inept - generally incompetent and ineffectual; "feckless attempts to repair the plumbing"; "inept handling of the account"
incompetent - not qualified or suited for a purpose; "an incompetent secret service"; "the filming was hopeless incompetent"
3.inept - revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse; "an inept remark"; "it was tactless to bring up those disagreeable"
maladroit - not adroit; "a maladroit movement of his hand caused the car to swerve"; "a maladroit translation"; "maladroit propaganda"

inept
adjective
1. incompetent, bungling, clumsy, cowboy (informal), awkward, bumbling, gauche, cack-handed (informal), inexpert, maladroit, unskilful, unhandy, unworkmanlike He was inept and lacked the intelligence to govern.
incompetent able, qualified, efficient, competent, talented, skilful, adroit, dexterous
2. unsuitable, inappropriate, out of place, ridiculous, absurd, meaningless, pointless, unfit, improper, inapt, infelicitous, malapropos The Government's inept response turned this into a crisis.
unsuitable appropriate, suitable, sensible, apt, effectual, germane
Translations
inept [ɪˈnept] ADJ
1. (= unskilful) [person] → inepto, incapaz; [performance] → malo
their inept handling of the casela forma inepta en que llevaron el caso
2. (= unsuitable) [policy] → inadecuado
inept [ɪnˈɛpt] adj
[person] → inepte
to be inept at sth → n'avoir aucune compétence en qch
[performance, handling, management] → médiocre
inept
adj behaviourungeschickt, linkisch, unbeholfen; remarkunpassend, unangebracht, ungeschickt; performance, displayungeschickt, stümperhaft (pej); compliment, refusal, attemptplump; comparisonungeeignet, unpassend; person (= clumsy)ungeschickt, unbeholfen; (= slow at learning)begriffsstutzig, ungelehrig, unverständig
inept [ɪˈnɛpt] adj (person) → inetto/a; (remark, behaviour) → inopportuno/a; (management, handling) → poco abile
inept [ɪˈnɛpt] adj (person) → inetto/a; (remark, behaviour) → inopportuno/a; (management, handling) → poco abile


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
, though as a criticism it is curiously inept, reveals his own attitude admirably: "Let us remember that we should not disregard the experience of ages; in the multitude of years, these things, if they were good, would certainly not have been unknown; for almost everything has been found out, although sometimes they are not put together; in other cases men do not use the knowledge which they have.
What women's acuteness really respects are the inept "ideas" and the sheeplike impulses by which our actions and opinions are determined in matters of real importance.
For, after all, I had only to act my part; unless Raffles failed where he never did fail, unless Raffles the neat and noiseless was for once clumsy and inept, all I had to do was indeed to "smile and smile and be a villain.
 
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