ineptness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English inept Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English ineptness From inept + -ness.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) The quality or degree of being inept.
Today has been a day of folly, stupidity, and ineptness. The time is now eleven o'clock in the evening, and I am sitting in my room and thinking.
1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter IV, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gambler_(1867)/IV):The ineptness of the novice jugglers was apparent as they frequently dropped their juggling pins.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ineptnesses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Synonyms
awkwardness (quality or degree of being inept) · ineptitude (quality or degree of being inept) · incompetence (quality or degree of being inept) · unsuitability (quality or degree of being inept) · unfitness (quality or degree of being inept)
Translations (4)
de Untauglichkeit (unfitness) (being inept) · it inettitudine (being inept) · de Unfähigkeit (being inept) · bg неспособност (being inept)