incompetent
in·com·pe·tent/ɪnˈkɒmpətənt/adjective, noun
incompetent is spelled I-N-C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-T, 4 syllables: in·com·pe·tent. The wrong spelling people search most is incompetant: about 120 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 31 of all searches for the word. Incompetent is an adjective meaning “Lacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully”.
How many letters and syllables are in incompetent?
| Letters | 11: I-N-C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: in·com·pe·tent |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, incompetant, about 120 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell incompetent?
Incompetent is spelled I-N-C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-T. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 25 of the searches for incompetent in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is incompetent?
Incompetent appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce incompetent?
- US /ɪnˈkɒmpətənt/
Incompetent has 4 syllables, split in·com·pe·tent in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-incompetent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of incompetent
- more incompetent comparative
- most incompetent superlative
- incompetents plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does incompetent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully.
Near-synonyms: incapable, inable, unable
- 2
Unable to make rational decisions; insane or otherwise cognitively impaired.
The charged was judged incompetent to stand trial, at least until his medication started working.
- 3
Opening too early during pregnancy, resulting in miscarriage or premature birth.
Near-synonyms: dysfunctional, nonfunctioning
- 4
Not resistant to deformation or flow.
noun
- 1
A person who is incompetent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Incompetent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unskilled, lacking normally expected degree of ability:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | incompétent |
| German | inkompetent, unfähig |
| Portuguese | incompetente |
| Spanish | incompetente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does incompetent come from?
Borrowed from French incompétent, from Late Latin incompetentem, from Latin incompetēns, equivalent to in- + competent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).