incoherent

/,inkou'hiərənt/

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Word: Incoherent

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: The word "incoherent" describes something that is not clear or logical. When a person is incoherent, they are unable to express their thoughts clearly or fluently, which makes it hard for others to understand them. It can also refer to things, like a presentation or speech, that are confusing and lack a logical connection.

Usage Instructions:

• Use "incoherent" to describe speech, writing, or thoughts that are difficult to understand due to confusion or lack of organization.

Examples:

1. Everyday Use: "After hearing the bad news, she became incoherent and couldn’t explain what happened."
2. In a Sentence: "The professor's lecture was so incoherent that many students left feeling confused."
3. In a Different Context: "The patient's speech was incoherent, making it hard for the doctors to understand his condition."

Advanced Usage:

In more complex contexts, "incoherent" can also refer to technical subjects, like physics. For example, when talking about waves, if they are incoherent, they do not have a stable or consistent phase relationship, meaning they are unpredictable and disorganized.

Word Variants:

• Incoherence (noun): The quality of being incoherent. Example: "The incoherence of his argument made it hard to take him seriously."
• Incoherently (adverb): Describes the manner of speaking or writing that is incoherent. Example: "She spoke incoherently due to her emotional state."

Different Meanings:

• Emotional Context: Someone may be incoherent due to strong emotions, like grief or shock, meaning their thoughts are jumbled.
• Technical Context: In science, incoherent can refer to light or sound waves that do not have a fixed phase relationship.

Synonyms:

• Confused
• Unclear
• Jumbled
• Disorganized
• Muddled

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

• While there aren’t specific idioms that use "incoherent," you might say someone is "not making sense" or "talking in circles," which conveys a similar idea of confusion.
• There’s no common phrasal verb associated with "incoherent," but you could use "broke down" as in "He broke down when he tried to explain," which implies he became incoherent during his explanation.

Conclusion:

Understanding the word "incoherent" can help you describe situations or people who are not communicating clearly.

Academic

Adjective

1. unable to express yourself clearly or fluently
   • felt tongue-tied with embarrassment
   • incoherent with grief
2. (physics) of waves having no stable definite or stable phase relation
3. without logical or meaningful connection
   • a turgid incoherent presentation

Synonyms

• tongue-tied