How to Use incompetence in a Sentence

incompetence

noun
Definition of incompetencenext
Synonyms for incompetencenext
  • She was fired for gross incompetence.
  • Because of his incompetence, we won't make our deadline.
  • His view of the incompetence of the regulators is barely veiled.
    — George Calhoun, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2021
  • His own incompetence had proved a great asset to American democracy.
    — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2021
  • Clearly the filmmakers want to illustrate everyone here has their reasons to fight for their homes, but failing to define who’s in the right or wrong comes across as pure incompetence.
    — Courtney Howard, Variety, 11 Nov. 2021
  • The American people seem to be catching on to the administration’s general incompetence, and their word is not deserving of our trust . . .
    — Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 17 Oct. 2021
  • Forget the historic incompetence at the end of the Cowboys’ game with the 49ers.
    — Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2022
  • The wrath of the heavens, local Libyans contend, was matched by the incompetence of those calling the shots on the ground.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Much of this was due to the Bears’ overall incompetence.
    — Steve Silverman, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2021
  • The burden rests on the defense to prove incompetence, Raven told CNN in an email.
    — Cheri Mossburg, CNN, 20 June 2023
  • And the incompetence isn’t limited to the fifty states.
    — John Tamny, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2021
  • The bad news is the Mavs came by their incompetence honestly.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Trump’s legal efforts were a clown car of incompetence, but for a time Barr rode in that car.
    — Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2022
  • But this total of 51 is a bit too high (see incompetence).
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 12 Oct. 2022
  • Biden's incompetence opens the door for a Trump restoration.
    — Matthew Continetti, National Review, 4 May 2024
  • Volodin’s threat is an utter fantasy, the incompetence of the Russian armed forces laid bare by the war in Ukraine.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 11 July 2022
  • For all of his incompetence, Boudreau was at least likable.
    — Tanner McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2023
  • The great shock is what the police did—their incompetence on the scene and apparent lies afterward.
    — Peggy Noonan, WSJ, 2 June 2022
  • Your claim just fell between the cracks, and the airline covered its incompetence with form letters.
    — Christopher Elliott, BostonGlobe.com, 8 June 2022
  • There are people who have known the president for years who would tell you Biden’s incompetence has nothing to do with his age.
    — Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 27 Jan. 2024
  • The people of Ohio are not gonna suffer because of your incompetence and lack of incentive.
    — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 21 Mar. 2022
  • So it's been a large measure of our incompetence in assisting the Ukrainians that has led to this gridlock.
    — Washington Post Live, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
  • Even if the price went down through CEO incompetence, the shares were still worth something, and they were typically awarded on top of salary, bonus, and perks.
    — Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 5 May 2022
  • That level of incompetence is tough to pull off for an incumbent.
    — Landon Mion, Fox News, 1 Mar. 2023
  • The only teams to rival that level of incompetence since 2000?
    — Shane Young, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2022
  • In the same Le Monde interview, Jean-Marie regretted that his daughter had left the space to her right free for the taking—which was seen as a jab at her incompetence.
    — James McAuley, The New Yorker, 22 Apr. 2022
  • You can be fired for incompetence, but you can’t just be removed from your position because the President has changed and wants to get rid of you.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 18 July 2023
  • Some, like Gopnik, will have to reach back to childhood for memories of incompetence.
    — Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2023
  • This mainstream media would still be perpetrating the four-year hoax of covering up Biden’s incompetence if Donald Trump did not accept the debate with Biden.
    — For Carroll County Times, Baltimore Sun, 16 July 2024
  • Overall, Trump flipped the script to turn accusations of his incompetence, corruption and anti-democratic tendencies onto Biden, who often seemed to be staring off into space.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 27 June 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incompetence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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