inconsistent

English

Etymology

in- + consistent

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌɪnkənˈsɪstənt/

Adjective

inconsistent (comparative more inconsistent, superlative most inconsistent)

  1. Not consistent:
    Antonym: consistent
    1. Not compatible (with another thing); incompatible, discrepant, at odds.
      His account of the evening was inconsistent with the security-camera footage.
    2. Lacking internal consistency; self-contradicting; not compatible with itself.
      He gave an inconsistent account of the evening, saying he called her before eight, but later that he had not talked to her until after nine.
      • 1862, The Christian Reformer (ed. Robert Aspland):
        He was one of those men of inconsistent politics, governed at once by prejudice and sympathies, whose 'attitude' it is impossible to foretell.
    3. Not consistent or coherent in thought or behavior.
      • 1848, The Columbian Magazine, volume 9, page 88:
        “Take him for better or worse,” added Mr. Lee, “and I think he is the strangest and most inconsistent man I ever saw.”
        Inconsistent!” resumed Mr. Jones. “He is worse than inconsistent. Inconsistencies may be pardoned as constitutional defects [...]”
    4. (logic) Having the property that a contradiction can be derived.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Catalan

Etymology

in- + consistent

Pronunciation

  • (Balearic, Valencian) IPA(key): /iŋ.kon.sisˈtent/
  • (Central) IPA(key): /iŋ.kun.sisˈten/

Adjective

inconsistent (masculine and feminine plural inconsistents)

  1. inconsistent
    Antonym: consistent
  • inconsistència

Further reading

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