INCONSISTENCY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inconsistency mean? 

• INCONSISTENCY (noun)
  The noun INCONSISTENCY has 2 senses:

1. the relation between propositions that cannot both be true at the same time

2. the quality of being inconsistent and lacking a harmonious uniformity among things or parts

  Familiarity information: INCONSISTENCY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INCONSISTENCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The relation between propositions that cannot both be true at the same time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

incompatibility; inconsistency; mutual exclusiveness; repugnance

Hypernyms ("inconsistency" is a kind of...):

contradictoriness (the relation that exists when opposites cannot coexist)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The quality of being inconsistent and lacking a harmonious uniformity among things or parts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("inconsistency" is a kind of...):

nonuniformity (the quality of being diverse and interesting)

Antonym:

consistency (a harmonious uniformity or agreement among things or parts)

Derivation:

inconsistent (displaying a lack of consistency)

 Context examples 

These, with their perplexities and inconsistencies, were the shifting quicksands of my mind, from the time of my departure to the time of my return home, three years afterwards.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She felt its inconsistency; but Mr. Knightley was so obliging as to put up with it, and seek no farther explanation.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

No man can like being driven into the appearance of such inconsistency.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

"It's well enough for me to go out with Laurie, but not well enough to go to the Hummels'," said Jo, laughing, but looking a little ashamed of her inconsistency.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Well, I am convinced that there is a vast deal of inconsistency in almost every human character.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She saw the indelicacy of putting himself forward as he had done, and the inconsistency of his professions with his conduct.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The extract's chemical profile, their respective concentrations and the mechanism of action of Essiac are largely unknown due to the proprietary nature of the formula and product inconsistency.

(Essiac, NCI Thesaurus)

Inconsistency or lack of agreement between data, facts, claims, or opinions.

(Disagreement, NCI Thesaurus)

The research provides a "door-opening opportunity" to resolving inconsistencies in the narrative of the planet's early days.

(Earth's mantle, not its core, may have generated planet's early magnetic field, National Science Foundation)

Its inconsistencies, contradictions, and falsehood struck her from the very first.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)