in-competent

adjective

not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable: an incompetent candidate.

characterized by or showing incompetence: His incompetent acting ruined the play.

Law.

being unable or legally unqualified to perform specified acts or to be held legally responsible for such acts.

inadmissible, as evidence.

noun

an incompetent person; a mentally deficient person.

Law. a person lacking power to act with legal effectiveness.

00:10

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So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Origin:
1590–1600; < Late Latin incompetent- (stem of incompetēns) unsuitable. See in-³, competent

Related forms

in·com·pe·tent·ly, adverb

Synonyms
1. unqualified, inadequate, unfit. See incapable.

Antonyms
1. able, qualified.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To in-competent

Collins

World English Dictionary

incompetent (ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt)

—*adj*
1.	not possessing the necessary ability, skill, etc to do or carry out a task; incapable
2.	marked by lack of ability, skill, etc
3.	law not legally qualified: an incompetent witness
4.	(of rock strata, folds, etc) yielding readily to pressure so as to undergo structural deformation

—n
5.	an incompetent person

in'competence

—n

in'competency

—n

in'competently

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

incompetent

1611, "insufficient," from Fr. incompetent, from L.L. incompetentem, from in- "not" + L. competentem (see competent). Sense of "lacking qualification or ability" first recorded 1635.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

incompetent in·com·pe·tent (ĭn-kŏm'pĭ-tənt)
adj.

Inadequate for or unsuited to a particular purpose or application.
Incapable of proper functioning.
Not qualified in legal terms.

Matching Quote

"To the degree that respect for professors ... has risen in our society, respect for writers has fallen. Today the professorial intellect has achieved its highest public standing since the world began, while writers have come to be called "men of letters," by which is meant people who are prevented by some obscure infirmity from becoming competent journalists."

-Robert Musil

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