inept Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite not elegant or graceful in expression
    awkward; ill-chosen; inapt; clumsy; cumbersome.
    • an awkward prose style
    • a clumsy apology
    • his cumbersome writing style
    • if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?
  2. adjective satellite generally incompetent and ineffectual
    feckless.
    • feckless attempts to repair the plumbing
    • inept handling of the account
  3. adjective satellite revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse
    tactless.
    • an inept remark
    • it was tactless to bring up those disagreeable

WordNet

In*ept" adjective
Etymology
L. ineptus; prefix. in- not + aptus apt, fit: cf. F. inepte. Cf. Inapt.
Definitions
  1. Not apt or fit; unfit; unsuitable; improper; unbecoming.
    The Aristotelian philosophy is inept for new discoveries. Glanvill.
  2. Silly; useless; nonsensical; absurd; foolish.
    To view attention as a special act of intelligence, and to distinguish it from consciousness, is utterly inept. Sir W. Hamilton.

Webster 1913