Standard Lemma guide

incongruous

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪnˈkɒn.ɡɹʊu.ʌs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪnˈkɒŋ.ɹʊu.ʌs/
  • US: /ɪnˈkɑn.ɡɹu.əs/
  • US: /ɪŋˈkɑŋ.ɡɹu.əs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 NG K AO1 NG R UW0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of two numbers, with respect to a third, such that their difference can not be divided by it without a remainder.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

Examples

  • 20 and 25 are incongruous with respect to 4.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a plan incongruous with reason
  • incongruous behavior
  • a joke that was incongruous with polite conversation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: congruous

History

Etymology

From Latin incongruus, from in- (“not”) + congruus (“congruent”), equivalent to in- + congruous.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: несъвместим (nesǎvmestim) — not matching
  • Bulgarian: несъответстващ (nesǎotvetstvašt) — not matching
  • Catalan: incongruent — not matching
  • Catalan: incongru — not matching
  • Czech: nezapadající — not matching
  • Czech: nehodící se — not matching
  • Czech: neslučitelný — not matching
  • Czech: nepřípadný — not matching
  • Dutch: ongepast — not matching
  • Esperanto: malakorda — not matching
  • Esperanto: miskongrua — not matching
  • Finnish: sopimaton — not matching
  • Finnish: epäjohdonmukainen — not matching
  • Finnish: ristiriitainen — not matching
  • French: incongru — not matching
  • Galician: incongruente — not matching
  • German: unpassend — not matching
  • German: unvereinbar — not matching
  • German: uneinheitlich — not matching
  • German: ungleich — not matching
  • German: disparat — not matching
  • German: nicht zusammenpassend — not matching
  • Greek: αταίριαστος (ataíriastos) — not matching
  • Greek: ανάρμοστος (anármostos) — not matching
  • Italian: incongruo — not matching
  • Japanese: 不調和 (fuchōwa) — not matching
  • Latin: alienus — not matching
  • Portuguese: incongruente — not matching
  • Romanian: incongruent — not matching
  • Russian: неуме́стный (neuméstnyj) — not matching
  • Russian: неподходя́щий (nepodxodjáščij) — not matching
  • Spanish: incongruente — not matching
  • Turkish: uyumsuz — not matching