inchoate

[in-koh-it, -eyt, in-koh-eyt]

adjective

1. not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.

2. just begun; incipient.

3. not organized; lacking order.

   an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.

inchoate

/ ɪnˈkəʊətɪv /

adjective

1. just beginning; incipient

2. undeveloped; immature; rudimentary

3. (of a legal document, promissory note, etc) in an uncompleted state; not yet made specific or valid

verb

1. to begin

Other Word Forms

• inchoateness noun
• inchoation noun
• inchoately adverb
• inchoative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of inchoate¹

1525–35; < Latin inchoātus, variant of incohātus, past participle of incohāre “to begin, start work on,” perhaps equivalent to in- in- ² ( def. ) + coh(um) “hollow of a yoke into which the pole is fitted” + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of inchoate¹

C16: from Latin incohāre to make a beginning, literally: to hitch up, from _in- ² + cohum yokestrap

Example Sentences

All of which feels fair, especially since Rogan is the target of Johnson’s inchoate ire.

From Salon

But the definition is so inchoate that decisions about whether something rates as fair use are typically done by judges on a case-by-case basis.

From Los Angeles Times

Calling it blood money, he uses it only to fund his inchoate plan to crush the Squid Game.

From Los Angeles Times

Back then, it was a handful of female video game developers and critics who were presented to largely male crowds online as targets for relentless, inchoate abuse.

From Salon

But although his methodology was questioned, he opened the door to a generation of social scientists for the analysis of often subjective and inchoate aspects of human emotion and behavior.

From Los Angeles Times