incapabile

Incapabile is an Italian adjective used to indicate a lack of ability or capacity to perform a function or fulfill a task. It can refer to a person who cannot do something, or to a device, system, or situation that fails to operate as expected. The standard construction is incapabile di followed by an infinitive, as in “È incapabile di prendere decisioni” or “Questo software è incapabile di gestire grandi volumi di dati.”

Etymology and form: incapabile is formed with the prefix in- added to capabile (from Latin capable, able). The word shares roots with other Romance languages that form negations with a similar prefix and express the idea of not being able to. In Italian, the word is used both in everyday speech and in more formal or technical contexts.

Usage and nuance: the term is generally neutral when describing a lack of ability, but it can carry a negative or critical undertone when aimed at a person. In legal or clinical contexts one may encounter the fixed expression incapace di intendere e di volere to denote a lack of mental capacity. Closely related terms include incompetente (incompetent), improprio or improparato (less common or more context-specific), and incapace in its noun form incapabilità or incapacità to refer to incapacity as a concept. Examples include statements about a person’s skills, a machine’s performance, or a system’s limitations.