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Inchoate: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Inchoate adjective. Only just begun and not yet fully formed or developed.
How to say it
in-KOH-ayt/ɪnˈkəʊeɪt/
3 syllables, stressed on the second (KOH).
Inchoate in a sentence
The plan was still inchoate, a few arrows on the back of an envelope.
She had an inchoate sense that something was wrong before anyone spoke.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- embryonic
- rudimentary
- nascent
- unformed
Opposite:
- developed
- mature
- complete
Careful
Inchoate means just begun, not chaotic. Because half-formed things are often muddled, it has drifted towards meaning incoherent, and some dictionaries list that, but its core is 'not yet developed'.
Where inchoate comes from
From Latin incohare, to begin.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
She had an _____ sense that something was wrong before anyone spoke.
- unexceptionable
- compendious
- inchoate
Show the answer
inchoate: She had an inchoate sense that something was wrong before anyone spoke.