incompatible
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Of two things: that cannot coexist.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnkuhmpatuhbuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnkəmˈpætəbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
medicinechemistrychiefly in the plural
An incompatible substance; one of a group of things that cannot be placed or used together because of a change of chemical composition or opposing medicinal qualities.
adjective
Of two things: that cannot coexist; not congruous because of differences; unable to function together due to dissimilarities.
chemistry
Incapable of being together without mutual reaction or decomposition, as certain medicines.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An incompatible substance; one of a group of things that cannot be placed or used together because of a change of chemical composition or opposing medicinal qualities.
Used this way, incompatible is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use incompatible
- “Incompatible personalities.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: of two things
Antonyms
Sense: of two things
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.