incongruous

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Dislike of the incongruous is almost a French passion, and, like all qualities, it has its defect, the defect of tolerating the conventional.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Lacking in harmony; incompatible: a joke that was incongruous with polite conversation.
  2. adjective Not in agreement, as with principles; inconsistent: a plan incongruous with reason.
  3. adjective Not in keeping with what is correct, proper, or logical; inappropriate: incongruous behavior.

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Examples

  • Here the numerous floating gardens, crudely improvised with logs and earth, strike one with amazement, so incongruous is the first sight of vegetables and melons growing in the midst of vast waters. —  Autobiography of a Yogi
  • Equally incongruous was the group of peppermint sticks which protruded from the left pocket of his leather jacket. —  Bloodhype
  • -- Was it new for any thing in this world to be unequal, inconsistent, incongruous -- or for chance and circumstance (as second causes) to direct the human fate? —  Emma
  • But the dark blonde hair that streamed around her face was curly and wild, and on her head -- incongruous in the winter frost and the snow -- rested a crown of tiny pink roses, woven together, twisted, holding her hair back. —  Asimov's Science Fiction
  • Dislike of the incongruous is almost a French passion, and, like all qualities, it has its defect, the defect of tolerating the conventional. —  French Art Classic and Contemporary Painting and Sculpture
 

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Incongruous has been looked up 558 times, favorited 0 times, listed 42 times, and commented on 0 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Latin incongruus : in-, not; see in-1 + congruus, congruous; see congruous.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French incongru = Spanish Portuguese Italian incongruo, from Latin incongruus, inconsistent, from in- privative + congruus, consistent: see congruous.
 

Pronunciations
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/ɪnˈkɑŋgruəs/
by Mary Mark Ockerbloom
by American Heritage

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