Inconsistent

//ˌɪnkənˈsɪstənt// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Not consistent:; Not compatible (with another thing); incompatible, discrepant, at odds.

    "His account of the evening was inconsistent with the security-camera footage."

  2. 2
    Not consistent:; 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."

  3. 3
    Not consistent:; Not consistent or coherent in thought or behavior.

    "“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. 4
    Not consistent:; Having the property that a contradiction can be derived.
Adjective
  1. 1
    not in agreement wordnet
  2. 2
    displaying a lack of consistency wordnet
  3. 3
    not capable of being made consistent or harmonious wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
discrepantincompatibleirreconcilableunconformableabnormalabsonant

Example

More examples

"When it comes to my supervisor, he's very inconsistent, so we never get any work done."

Etymology

From in- + consistent.

More for "inconsistent"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.