incapable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French incapable, equivalent to in- +‎ capable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkeɪpəbl̩/, /ɪŋˈkeɪpəbl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧ca‧pable

Adjective

incapable (comparative more incapable, superlative most incapable)

1. Not capable (of doing something); unable.

   A pint glass is incapable of holding more than a pint of liquid.

   I consider him incapable of dishonesty.

   • 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 254:

     The British people seem incapable of avoiding the habit of leaving litter wherever they go, and the railways certainly seem to receive their fair share of it, in carriages and on stations.

   • 2019 August 22, Matthew H. Birkhold, “A Brief History of the Indignities Heaped Upon Greenland”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 16 July 2020:

     According to the prevailing Danish rationale, Greenlanders were naïve and childlike, in need of protection and incapable of governing themselves.

2. Not in a state to receive; not receptive; not susceptible; not able to admit.

   incapable of pain, or pleasure; incapable of stain or injury

Synonyms

• (not capable): unable
• (not in a state to receive): refusing

Antonyms

• capable

Derived terms

• incapability
• incapableness
• incapably

Related terms

• incapacitate
• incapacitation

Translations

not being capable

• Arabic: عَاجِز m (ʕājiz)
• Bulgarian: неспособен (bg) (nesposoben)
• Catalan: incapaç (ca)
• Esperanto: malkapabla
• Finnish: kyvytön (fi), kykenemätön (fi)
• French: incapable (fr)
• Galician: incapaz (gl) m or f
• Georgian: უძლური (uʒluri)
• Greek: ανίκανος (el) (aníkanos)
• Hindi: असमर्थ (hi) (asmarth)
• Ido: nekapabla (io)
• Japanese: できない (ja) (dekinai), 無理な (ja) (muri na), 不能な (ja) (funō na)
• Latin: incapax
• Pohnpeian: soakoahiek
• Polish: niezdolny (pl)
• Portuguese: incapaz (pt)
• Romanian: incapabil (ro)
• Sanskrit: अशक्त (sa) (aśakta)
• Serbo-Croatian: nesposoban (sh), nemoćan
• Spanish: incapaz (es)

not in a state to receive

• Japanese: 無縁な (ja) (muen na), 拒む (ja) (kobamu)

Noun

incapable (plural incapables)

1. (dated) One who is morally or mentally weak or inefficient; an imbecile; a simpleton.

French

Etymology

From Latin incapābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.ka.pabl/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

incapable (plural incapables)

1. unable, incapable

Noun

incapable m (plural incapables, feminine incapable)

1. incompetent (person)

Further reading

• “incapable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012