incongruous

English

Etymology

From Latin incongruus, from in- (“not”) + congruus (“congruent”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈɪn.kɒn.ɡɹʊu.ʌs/ or IPA: /ˈɪn.kɒŋ.ɹʊu.ʌs/
• (US) IPA: /ɪnˈkɑn.ɡɹu.əs/ or IPA: /ɪŋˈkɑŋ.ɡɹu.əs/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

incongruous (comparative more incongruous, superlative most incongruous)

1. Not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.
   • 1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette, ch. 34:

     [P]erhaps he thought me, with my basket of summer fruit, and my lack of the dignity age confers, an incongruous figure in such a scene.

   • 1906, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, ch. 1:

     Ona was blue-eyed and fair, while Jurgis had great black eyes with beetling brows, and thick black hair that curled in waves about his ears—in short, they were one of those incongruous and impossible married couples with which Mother Nature so often wills to confound all prophets.

   • 1912, Jack London, A Son Of The Sunm ch. 1:

     Ardent suns had likewise tanned his face till it was swarthy as a Spaniard's. The yellow mustache appeared incongruous in the midst of such swarthiness.

Derived terms

• incongruously
• incongruousness

Related terms

• incongruence
• incongruent
• incongruity

Translations

not matching

Dutch: onpassend (nl) French: incongru (fr) German: unpassend (de), unvereinbar (de), uneinheitlich (de), ungleich (de), disparat (de)

Japanese: 不調和な(ふちょうわな, fuchōwa) Portuguese: incongruente (pt) Russian: неуместный (ru), неподходящий (ru)