different between nugatory vs inept

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

Borrowed from Middle French inepte, from Latin ineptus, from in- + aptus (whence English apt).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?n??pt/

  Rhymes: -?pt

Adjective

inept (comparative more inept, superlative most inept)

1. Not able to do something; not proficient; displaying incompetence.
2. Unfit; unsuitable.

Antonyms

• adept
• skillful

Derived terms

• ept
• ineptitude

Related terms

• apt
• aptitude

Translations

Anagrams

• nepit

Romanian

Etymology

From French inepte, from Latin ineptus.

Adjective

inept m or n (feminine singular inept?, masculine plural inep?i, feminine and neuter plural inepte)

1. inept

Declension