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inarticulate

Use the adjective inarticulate to describe poor communication skills, like at your most inarticulate moments when you nervously fumble to find the right word and completely forget to make your most important point.

Inarticulate sounds — a grunt, cry, scream, snort, wail, howl, moan, sob, snicker — are heard but not easily understood. If something is inarticulate, it is hard to get the meaning, like an inarticulate speech whose main idea can't be found. Creative works can also be inarticulate, when it isn't clear what — if anything — they are trying to express, like a painter whose gallery show that is called "inarticulate" by a critic: You can't grasp what the artist is trying to say.

DEFINITIONS OF: inarticulate

1

adj without or deprived of the use of speech or words

inarticulate beasts”
“remained stupidly inarticulate and saying something noncommittal”
inarticulate with rage”
“an inarticulate cry”
Synonyms:
unarticulate
aphasic
unable to speak because of a brain lesion
aphonic, voiceless
being without sound through injury or illness and thus incapable of all but whispered speech
dumb, mute, silent
unable to speak because of hereditary deafness
dumb
lacking the power of human speech
incoherent, tongue-tied
unable to express yourself clearly or fluently
mute, tongueless, unspoken, wordless
expressed without speech
dumb, speechless
temporarily incapable of speaking
unarticulated
uttered without the use of normal words or syllables
incommunicative, uncommunicative
not inclined to talk or give information or express opinions
Antonyms:
articulate
expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language
eloquent, facile, fluent, silver, silver-tongued, smooth-spoken
expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
speech-endowed
capable of speech
well-spoken
speaking or spoken fittingly or pleasingly
communicative, communicatory
able or tending to communicate
spoken
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
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