inept

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mr. Gosling’s Grace, unlike Matt Damon’s character, is attractively humble, often confused, and at times inept.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

There’s a real argument here that an agency so inept in its recruitment will also be inept at training people and carrying out its mission.

From Slate • Jan. 13, 2026

“We spoke a lot about what kind of man Gustav was — the paradox of someone who can see people so clearly in his art yet be so clumsy and inept in his real life.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2025

The FBI has assigned him to man a table at recruitment fairs, but he’s an inept salesman and not much more effective as a father.

From Salon • Sep. 7, 2025

He was not alone: ‘The Aristotelian Philosophy is inept for New discoveries,’ wrote Joseph Glanvill in 1661.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton