Incidental vs Incongruous - What's the difference?
incidental | incongruous |
Loosely associated; existing as a byproduct, tangent, or accident.
Entering or approaching, prior to reflection (more frequently incident).
Not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.
* 1853 , , Villette , ch. 34:
*
* 1912 , , A Son Of The Sun m ch. 1:
* 2014 , Daniel Taylor, England and Wayne Rooney see off Scotland in their own back yard'' (in ''The Guardian , 18 November 2014)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/18/scotland-england-international-friendly-match-report]
(math) Of two numbers, with respect to a third, such that their difference can not be divided by it without a remainder.
As adjectives the difference between incidental and incongruous
is that incidental is loosely associated; existing as a byproduct, tangent, or accident while incongruous is not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.As a noun incidental
is incidental expense.incidental
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- That character, though colorful, is incidental to the overall plot.
Derived terms
* incidental expense * incidentallySynonyms
*(existing as an accident) accidental, contingentAntonyms
*(existing as an accident) inevitable, necessary, impossibleAnagrams
* ----incongruous
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- [P]erhaps he thought me, with my basket of summer fruit, and my lack of the dignity age confers, an incongruous figure in such a scene.
- Ona was blue-eyed and fair, while Jurgis had great black eyes with beetling brows, and thick black hair that curled in waves about his ears—in short, they were one of those incongruous and impossible married couples with which Mother Nature so often wills to confound all prophets.
- Ardent suns had likewise tanned his face till it was swarthy as a Spaniard's. The yellow mustache appeared incongruous in the midst of such swarthiness.
- For a few moments England toyed with the idea of making it a more difficult night than necessary. Scotland had scored a goal that seemed incongruous to the rest of their performance and, briefly, a fiercely partisan crowd sensed an improbable comeback.
- 20 and 25 are incongruous with respect to 4.
