inept

/ɪˈnɛpt/

/ɪnˈɛpt/

A clumsy, incompetent person — or an ineffective action — is inept. When you're inept, you don't know what you're doing or just can't get it done.

Someone inept is bumbling, clueless, and ineffective. Inept people are dumb or clueless; they don't understand things. More than that, inept people are bad at what they do. An inept lawyer always loses cases. An inept figure skater wipes out on the ice. An inept postal worker loses mail and puts it in the wrong box. An inept person is downright bad at something. The opposite of inept is competent.

Definitions of inept

1. adjective

   generally incompetent and ineffectual
   “inept handling of the account”

   synonyms: feckless

   incompetent

   not qualified or suited for a purpose
2. adjective

   revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse
   “an inept remark”

   synonyms: tactless

   maladroit

   not adroit
3. adjective

   not elegant or graceful in expression
   “if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?”

   synonyms: awkward, clumsy, cumbersome, ill-chosen, inapt

   infelicitous

   not appropriate in application; defective