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INCONSISTENT
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not in agreement
Synonyms:
discrepant; inconsistent
Classified under:
Similar:
incongruous (lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Displaying a lack of consistency
Example:
inconsistent with the roadmap
Classified under:
Similar:
at odds; conflicting; contradictory; self-contradictory (in disagreement)
discrepant; incompatible (not compatible with other facts)
scratchy; spotty; uneven (lacking consistency)
unconformable (not correspondent)
unreconciled (not made consistent or compatible)
Also:
variable (liable to or capable of change)
Antonym:
consistent ((sometimes followed by 'with') in agreement or consistent or reliable)
Derivation:
inconsistency (the quality of being inconsistent and lacking a harmonious uniformity among things or parts)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not capable of being made consistent or harmonious
Example:
inconsistent accounts
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
irreconcilable; unreconcilable (impossible to reconcile)
Context examples:
However, the correlation of histological anaplasia with clinical outcome is inconsistent.
(Anaplastic Ganglioglioma, NCI Thesaurus/Adapted from WHO)
This was contrasted by parents who had a ‘distorted’ representation of their child, with a narrow, idealised description of their child, and incomplete or inconsistent descriptions of them.
(Mother’s attitude towards baby during pregnancy may have implications for child’s development, University of Cambridge)
A disorder characterized by a marked pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is inconsistent with developmental level and clearly interferes with functioning in at least two settings (e.g. at home and at school).
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
Edmund so inconsistent!
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
My good Mr. Copperfield! said Tiffey, laying his hand upon my arm, and shutting up both his eyes as he shook his head: if you had been in the Commons as long as I have, you would know that there is no subject on which men are so inconsistent, and so little to be trusted.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
It was now some years since Anne had begun to learn that she and her excellent friend could sometimes think differently; and it did not surprise her, therefore, that Lady Russell should see nothing suspicious or inconsistent, nothing to require more motives than appeared, in Mr Elliot's great desire of a reconciliation.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
To pass between lodges of a modern appearance, to find herself with such ease in the very precincts of the abbey, and driven so rapidly along a smooth, level road of fine gravel, without obstacle, alarm, or solemnity of any kind, struck her as odd and inconsistent.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Researchers have been studying the possible link between hair dye and cancer for a long time, but results have been inconsistent, said corresponding author Alexandra White, Ph.D., head of the NIEHS Environment and Cancer Epidemiology Group.
(Permanent hair dye and straighteners may increase breast cancer risk, National Institutes of Health)
A few studies have found a higher risk of autism and of lower cognitive functioning in children living near freeways, but results of studies about how prenatal and early childhood exposure to air pollution might affect development have been inconsistent.
(Kids living near major roads at higher risk of developmental delays, National Institutes of Health)
