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incapable

incapable

162 3.4
Not able to do or experience something
  • adjective
  • /ɪnˈkeɪpəbl/
translation icon : incapaz de
  • And the FBI seems, at least for the moment, incapable of stopping the terror.
  • completely incapable
  • incapable of acting
  • proved incapable

And what I mean by that was I'm incapable of being anybody but myself.

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Examples

  • From the beginning, Columbus proved himself incapable of managing the affairs of the island.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • What made me so sure that she was incapable of loving a man like him?

    Fiction book (1993)
  • And yet we're incapable of going first.

  • As a matter of fact, we have people who are incapable of love.

  • At least one of them made me pretty much incapable of doing anything.

  • Now how could an incapable government have designed that?

  • Either George is done for and incapable of thinking or else he can still think.

  • He's shown himself to be incapable of telling the truth.

  • It is absolutely incapable of sustaining itself.

  • She felt incapable of completing the project without assistance.

Synonyms

unable
vsincapable
809 1.0

Not having the skill, strength or things needed to do something

is usually used with of in expressions showing a lack of ability
helpless
vsincapable
243 2.0

Not able to act or protect yourself

focuses on lacking skill or capacity generally rather than lacking power to act
incompetent
vsincapable
141 4.9

Not able to do a job or task well

covers lack of ability or capacity beyond just poor job skill
impotent
vsincapable
25 6.8

Unable to act or change a situation

speaks to lacking ability, skill, or capacity rather than just lacking power
unequal to
vsincapable
1 6.3

Not able to manage a task or handle a difficult situation

applies more broadly to lacking ability or capacity in general

Antonyms

1.0

Having the skill or power to do something

945 1.4

Able to do something well because of skill or training

How Capable

expert
3 3.5
competent
114 3.6
skilled
172 3.5
inexperienced
66 3.4
unskilled
6 2.9
incapable
162 3.4
helpless
243 2.0

Surface Forms

incapable positive
incapabler comparative
incapablest superlative

Morphology

incapable = capable (transparent) = in + capable

This is a standard negative prefixation of the adjective 'capable', yielding the straightforward meaning 'not capable'.

Etymology

The word incapable starts with in- meaning 'not' and the part capable comes from an old root meaning 'to hold' or 'to take', the same idea you see in capacity. So incapable means 'not able' or 'not having the power to do something'.