incongruous Hear it!

incongruous Definition

in·con·gru·ous (in käŋ′gro̵̅o̅ əs, -kän′-)

adjective

not congruous; specif.,

  1. lacking harmony or agreement; incompatible
  2. having inconsistent or inharmonious parts, elements, etc.
  3. not corresponding to what is right, proper, or reasonable; unsuitable; inappropriate

Etymology: L incongruus

incongruous Related Forms
in·con′·gru·ously adverb
incongruous Synonyms

incongruous

modif.

  1. Inconsistent

    contradictory, conflicting, incompatible, mismatched, irreconcilable, uncoordinated, unconnected, twisted, incoherent, distorted, unrelated, divergent, discrepant, irregular, unpredictable, shifting, loose, lopsided, disparate, discordant, inharmonious, inconsonant, jumbled, unbalanced, incongruent, bizarre, out of keeping, out of step, at odds; see also illogical, unsuitable.

    Antonyms like, coordinated, harmonious.

  2. Unsuitable

    inappropriate, unseemly, out of place; see improper 1.

incongruous Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • seem: There had seemed something slightly incongruous about these from the start.

Modifies a noun

  • juxtaposition: The incongruous juxtapositions of recusant children and soldiers with guns are raw and shocking still -- they always will be.
  • sight: The deep red of the rock against the blue of the sky, the incongruous sight of water next to desert.
  • element: From an incongruous element to give a mythic edge to a hardware movie, they become the thing which the film is about.
  • feature: The £ 350,000 scheme would be Disneyfication with incongruous alien suburban features.
  • thing: They were there for the reason that commonly explains the meeting of incongruous things; they proposed to give the College some money.
  • mix: The same kind of incongruous mix typifies Berkoff's direction.

Modifying Another Word

  • strangely: We finished the day with an outstanding and strangely incongruous restaurant.
  • seemingly: Facing entries, no matter how seemingly incongruous, are united by a visual theme to spectacular effect.
  • somewhat: In the distance, they add a somewhat incongruous note to the scenery - a glimpse of India in Southern Italy, perhaps.
  • slightly: I get the slightly incongruous sight of an East German sat next to me screaming " New England " !
  • rather: Such a confrontation on a beach was rather incongruous in the middle of January.
  • totally: Personally, I find CD based music totally incongruous to gaming.

Infinitive complement

  • see: It seems incongruous to see this traditional housekeeping going on in a house with a TV satellite dish.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: The choices he has made do seem somewhat incongruous, however.
  • appear: Somehow a man in his sixties might appear incongruous mixing with strong muscular players of a different generation!
  • look: It looks quite incongruous out here in the middle of nowhere.
  • sound: It sounds incongruous at first, later just makes you grin.
  • feel: I felt pretty incongruous - despite my youth, I am more into Bob Dylan than Westlife.

Preposition: in

  • setting: Incongruous in this old world setting, waiters punch orders into pocket PCs.