Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Inappropriate.
- adjective Inept.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not apt in kind or character; ill adapted to the purpose or occasion; unsuitable; not fit or qualified: as, a person inapt for a particular service.
- Not apt in action or manner; not ready or skilful; dull; slow; awkward; unhandy: as, an inapt student or workman. Also
unapt . Seeinept .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Unapt; not apt; unsuitable; inept.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Unapt ; notapt ; unsuitable;inept .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective not elegant or graceful in expression
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Many of the Bushisms strike me as unfair and inapt, which is why I comment onthem.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Yesterday’s Bushism of the Day: 2004
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Many of the Bushisms strike me as unfair and inapt, which is why I comment onthem.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Yesterday’s Bushism of the Day: 2004
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Powers chooses, to my chagrin, two phrases from my article, both meant to be humorous, to suggest that not only is my style of writing "inapt," a rather awkward word, in my opinion but, more importantly, who the hell am I to have anything posted on HuffPo in the first place?
The Powers That Be 2007
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[69: 1] We have a Gillespie setting aside the Design Argument on the ground that the reasonings by which it is supported are 'inapt' to show such attributes as infinity, omnipresence, free agency, omnipotency, eternality, or unity, 'belong in any way to God.
An Apology for Atheism Addressed to Religious Investigators of Every Denomination by One of Its Apostles Charles Southwell
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However, it seems to me that your comparison is inapt, in that the Tea Party movement is a group of individuals acting collectively, but outside formal government, whereas the current understanding of “nudge” or “shove,” especially in the context of the original post, refers to the government using its monopoly onforce.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Josh Wright on Behavioral Economics in the Obama Administration: 2010
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Given that she has no effective control over the center of Gaza, I think this is inapt.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Gaza Blockade Violence News You May Have Missed 2010
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Such military terms are inapt for a situation where the means and purpose of the events are unclear, as are the antagonists.
Cybercrime Comes to the IMF Jeremy Wagstaff 2011
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While we might find the Iranian analogy entirely inapt we already saw that unlike Iranian security forces, the Egyptian military won't mow down its own people, Israel survives by planning for and worrying about the worst of all worlds.
How Israel sees Egypt Jennifer Rubin 2011
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P.S. The terrorists in Iraq are there because we invaded the wrong country, making most of that reasoning inapt at best.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Predator Drone Warfare — Assorted Links 2010
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Comparisons to the mountains of Yemen are utterly inapt.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Opinio Juris Discussions of Targeting of US Citizen 2010
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