incoherence

/ɪnkoʊˈhɪrəns/

Other forms: incoherences

Incoherence is a quality of being unclear, disjointed, or nonsensical. The incoherence of the scavenger hunt's instructions resulted in everyone running in different directions looking hopelessly confused.

A political candidate's incoherence usually hurts their chances of winning an election, since no one really understands what they stand for. And if your English teacher comments on the incoherence of your latest essay, you might want to get some extra writing help. When ideas, words, or thoughts don't hold together quite right, that's incoherence. The Latin root is cohaerere, "stick together."

Definitions of incoherence

1. noun

   lack of cohesion or clarity or organization
   synonyms: incoherency

   antonyms:

   coherence

   the state of cohering or sticking together

   types:

   disjointedness

   lacking order or coherence

   type of:

   disconnectedness, disconnection, disjunction, disjuncture

   state of being disconnected
2. noun

   nonsense that is simply incoherent and unintelligible
   synonyms: incoherency, unintelligibility

   types:

   word salad

   jumble of incoherent speech as sometimes heard in schizophrenia

   type of:

   bunk, hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality

   a message that seems to convey no meaning