incongruity

/ˌɪŋkɔŋˈgruɪti/

Other forms: incongruities

Incongruity means out of place — something that doesn't fit in its location or situation. The art show patrons couldn't help but chuckle at the incongruity of a toilet sitting in the middle of an exhibition of Renaissance paintings.

An incongruity is very different from everything around it, to the point of being inappropriate to the situation. A cat at a dog's birthday party would be an incongruity, as would a pacifist at a meeting of the War Lovers' Society. Incongruity is the idea that something is incongruous, or inappropriate. A purple towel is an incongruity in an all black-and-white bathroom.

Definitions of incongruity

1. noun

   the quality of disagreeing; being unsuitable and inappropriate
   synonyms: incongruousness

   antonyms:

   congruity

   the quality of agreeing; being suitable and appropriate

   types:

   irony

   incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs

   Socratic irony

   admission of your own ignorance and willingness to learn while exposing someone's inconsistencies by close questioning

   type of:

   incompatibility

   the quality of being unable to exist or work in congenial combination