incapable Hear it!

incapable Definition

in·ca·pable (in kā′pə bəl)

adjective

not capable; specif.,

  1. lacking the necessary ability, competence, strength, etc.
  2. not legally qualified or eligible

Etymology: LL incapabilis

incapable Related Forms
in′·ca·pabil′·ity noun or in·ca′·pable·ness in·ca′·pably adverb
incapable Idioms

incapable of

  1. not allowing or admitting; not able to accept or experience incapable of change
  2. lacking the ability or fitness for incapable of sustained thought
  3. not legally qualified for
incapable Synonyms

incapable

modif.

unsuited, inept, ineffective, inadequate; see incompetent.

incapable Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • remedy: Such inducement shall be deemed to be a breach, which shall be considered incapable of remedy.
  • speech: Retired to bed at 8pm, incapable of speech.
  • thought: Indeed you may believe I am incapable of such thought.
  • resistance: Trade Unions - Incapable of resistance to Hitler since they were divided between the KPD and SPD.
  • work: To be judged incapable of work you must score 15 points on the physical health test or 10 points on the mental health test.
  • reform: Let us be clear: some criminals are incapable of reform.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • render: In social issues, mutual distrust plays such a key role, rendering society incapable of engaging in concerted action.

Modifying Another Word

  • mentally: You can specify that the EPA can only come into effect once you become mentally incapable.
  • permanently: A teacher has to be permanently incapable of teaching to qualify for ill-health benefits.
  • congenitally: Labor have shown that they are congenitally incapable of proper public service reform.
  • constitutionally: Perhaps, as Bruce Wayne suggests, he's constitutionally incapable of not obeying flags and badges.
  • utterly: They seem utterly incapable of adopting the mode of the society they are later surrounded by.
  • psychologically: The argument was also put forward that children are psychologically incapable of repentance and faith.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: I seem totally incapable of making my brain function at a rapid pace.
  • deem: The police investigation was not pursued as the service user was deemed incapable of appearing as a witness and his father had refused permission.
  • render: To pool is to dilute, and to render incapable of discrete use.
  • prove: They have proved incapable of pushing through many of the reforms they promised.
  • appear: The Euston group, like the mainstream anti-war movement, appears incapable of grasping the world in its many-sided complexity.
  • become: TEACHER: Then we become incapable of love, we don't see what is good, we forget to pray.

Modifies a noun

  • adult: Should there be a general assumption that care home managers should not be appointed as managers of an incapable adult 's financial affairs?