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.

As post-conviction lawyers who now represent Carruthers have said, his trial performance was “singularly inept, ineffective, and disastrous.”

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

The Scotsman had built a stellar reputation at sea, offset by an inept sense of naval and parliamentary politics at home.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Comedian Daniel Tosh even parlayed a desire to gawk at the web’s inept and unaware into a vicious update of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” that aired on Comedy Central for years.

From Salon • Feb. 16, 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

Fred had long seemed to think that his little brother was just a bit inept, and that he needed to set him straight on any number of things.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown