different between nugatory vs incompetent

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin n?g?t?rius

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nju???t??i/

Adjective

nugatory (comparative more nugatory, superlative most nugatory)

1. Trivial, trifling or of little importance.
   • 1872, Benjamin Disraeli, Suez Canal Speech

     I might refer to the general conviction and the common sense of society that such an investment cannot be treated as absolutely idle and nugatory.

2. Ineffective, invalid or futile.
   • 1792, George Washington, Fourth State of the Union Address

     I can not dismiss the subject of Indian affairs without again recommending to your consideration the expediency of more adequate provision for giving energy to the laws throughout our interior frontier and for restraining the commission of outrages upon the Indians, without which all pacific plans must prove nugatory.
3. (law) Having no force, inoperative, ineffectual.
   • 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland (17 U.S. 316)

     The word "necessary" is considered as controlling the whole sentence, and as limiting the right to pass laws for the execution of the granted powers to such as are indispensable, and without which the power would be nugatory.

4. (computing) Removable from a computer program with safety, but harmless if retained.

Translations

English

Etymology

From French incompétent, from Late Latin incompetentem, from Latin incompet?ns.

Adjective

incompetent (comparative more incompetent, superlative most incompetent)

1. Unskilled; lacking the degree of ability that would normally be expected.

   Synonym: inept

   Having an incompetent lawyer may be grounds for a retrial, but the lawyer in question probably doesn't know that.

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. (medicine) Of the cervix: opening too early in pregnancy, provoking the baby to be born.
4. (geology) Not resistant to deformation or flow.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:bad

Derived terms

• incompetently

Related terms

• incompetence
• incompetency

Translations

Noun

incompetent (plural incompetents)

1. A person who is incompetent.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin incompet?ns, attested from 1696.

Adjective

incompetent (masculine and feminine plural incompetents)

1. incompetent

   Antonym: competent

Related terms

• incompetència

References

Further reading

• “incompetent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “incompetent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “incompetent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Likely borrowed, ultimately from Latin incompet?ns. Equivalent to in- +? competent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???.k?m.p??t?nt/
• Hyphenation: in?com?pe?tent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Adjective

incompetent (comparative incompetenter, superlative incompetentst)

1. incompetent

Inflection

Related terms

• incompetentie

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin incompet?ns.

Adjective

incompetent m (feminine singular incompetenta, masculine plural incompetents, feminine plural incompetentas)

1. incompetent

   Antonym: competent

Related terms

• incompeténcia

Romanian

Etymology

From French incompétent

Adjective

incompetent m or n (feminine singular incompetent?, masculine plural incompeten?i, feminine and neuter plural incompetente)

1. incompetent

Declension