as in inability
the lack of sufficient ability, power, or means
the astounding incompetence of the new assistant
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incompetence
Read’s lawyers say she was framed for O'Keefe's murder and, in opening statements, said the investigation was riddled with error, bias, incompetence and deceit.
—
Christopher Cann, USA Today, 14 May 2025
Team Trump’s erratic game of Russian roulette over tariffs, vaccines and Ukraine are only the most dangerous examples of their unpatriotic incompetence.
—Mark Green, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2025
Errors are human and inevitable, but errors do not indicate incompetence, greed or corruption.
—Primary Care Physicians, Hartford Courant, 6 Apr. 2025
Claims of incompetence may shield responsible parties from criminal charges but not civil penalties.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for incompetence
Christopher Cann, USA Today, 14 May 2025
Team Trump’s erratic game of Russian roulette over tariffs, vaccines and Ukraine are only the most dangerous examples of their unpatriotic incompetence.
—Mark Green, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2025
Errors are human and inevitable, but errors do not indicate incompetence, greed or corruption.
—Primary Care Physicians, Hartford Courant, 6 Apr. 2025
Claims of incompetence may shield responsible parties from criminal charges but not civil penalties.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for incompetence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incompetence
inability
Noun
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Indeed, the root cause of the Iberian grid’s failure on a clear, windy day when 70% of Spain’s generation capacity was coming from renewables was the Spanish grid’s inability to gracefully handle such a surplus of renewables generation.—
Erik Kobayashi-Solomon,
Forbes.com,
8 June 2025
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Could his inability to execute be a product of pitching deep into most of his 11 starts to begin the season?—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incompetence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incompetence. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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