Inept

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Inept \In*ept"\, a. [L. ineptus; prefix. in- not + aptus apt,
     fit: cf. F. inepte. Cf. {Inapt}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Not apt or fit; unfit; unsuitable; improper; unbecoming.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              The Aristotelian philosophy is inept for new
              discoveries.                          --Glanvill.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Silly; useless; nonsensical; absurd; foolish.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              To view attention as a special act of intelligence,
              and to distinguish it from consciousness, is utterly
              inept.                                --Sir W.
                                                    Hamilton.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  inept
       adj 1: 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?" [syn: {awkward}, {clumsy},
               {cumbersome}, {inapt}, {ill-chosen}]
       2: generally incompetent and ineffectual; "feckless attempts to
          repair the plumbing"; "inept handling of the account"
          [syn: {feckless}]
       3: revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse; "an
          inept remark"; "it was tactless to bring up those
          disagreeable" [syn: {tactless}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  178 Moby Thesaurus words for "inept":
     apish, artless, asinine, awkward, bad, batty, befooled, beguiled,
     besotted, brainless, buffoonish, bumbling, bungling, clumsy,
     cockeyed, crazy, credulous, daffy, daft, dazed, dizzy, doting,
     dumb, fatuitous, fatuous, flaky, fond, fool, foolheaded, foolish,
     fuddled, futile, gaga, gauche, goofy, graceless, gulled,
     half-assed, halting, ham-handed, headless, idiotic, ignorant,
     ill-adapted, ill-advised, ill-assorted, ill-chosen, ill-considered,
     ill-fitted, ill-judged, ill-matched, ill-sorted, ill-suited,
     ill-timed, imbecile, impolitic, improper, imprudent, inadept,
     inadmissible, inadvisable, inane, inapplicable, inapposite,
     inappropriate, inapt, inattentive, incapable, incapable of,
     incompetent, incongruous, indiscreet, ineffective, inefficient,
     inexpedient, inexpert, infatuated, infelicitous, inferior,
     injudicious, inopportune, insane, insensate, irrational,
     irrelevant, kooky, lackbrained, lean-minded, lean-witted, loony,
     lumbering, mad, mal a propos, maladjusted, maladroit, malapropos,
     maudlin, mediocre, mindless, misguided, misjoined, mismatched,
     mismated, misplaced, moronic, not bright, nutty, of little brain,
     out of character, out of joint, out of keeping, out of line,
     out of place, out of proportion, out of season, out of time,
     out of tune, pea-brained, pedestrian, pin-brained, poor,
     reasonless, sappy, screwy, senseless, sentimental, silly,
     skill-less, slackminded, slackwitted, stupid, thoughtless, unable,
     unable to, unadapted, unadvised, unapt, unbecoming, unbefitting,
     undeft, undesirable, undexterous, undextrous, undiplomatic, undue,
     unendowed, unfacile, unfit, unfitted, unfitting, unfortunate,
     ungainly, ungifted, unhandy, unhappy, unintellectual,
     unintelligent, unmeet, unproficient, unprofitable, unqualified,
     unreasoning, unseasonable, unseemly, unskilled, unskillful,
     unsuitable, unsuited, untalented, unthinking, untimely, unwise,
     unworkmanlike, wacky, wet, witless, wooden, wrong