inchoate

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means 'undeveloped' or 'just begun' and is derived from the Latin word choare 'to begin':

It was obviously necessary that we should continue our still inchoate discussion over a drink—D. M. Davin, 1975

She is not allowed to express her real, if inchoate, feelings for Robert Marlin—T. Tanner, 1986.

It should be distinguished from incoherent, which means 'lacking logic or consistency' (

☒ The rest of his inchoate speech was devoted to—[etc.]—Independent, 2001)

, and chaotic, which means 'having no order, utterly disorganized or confused' (

☒ The protesters at Genoa, inchoate and unfocused though they may be,...can be considered the heroes of today's society—Scotland on Sunday, 2001).

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Nikki Finke, an entertainment journalist with LA Weekly, expressed herself alliteratively and bluntly about the Oscars awards show on TV. "Inchoate" — undeveloped — was one of the mildest of her insults:

"This was the most incoherent, inchoate Oscar telecast in recent memory. Nothing flowed, everything jarred, cut ins and cut outs weren't preceded by necessary segues. Added up to a butt-ugly broadcast that even the biggest film buff had to gag through."

Link: Stinko Oscars

Posted March 7, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

Not yet completed. In inchoate offenses, something remains to be done before the crime can be accomplished as contemplated.

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Unfinished, begun but not completed. In real estate, this can apply to dower or curtesy rights prior to the death of a spouse.


Example: Collins dies, leaving dower rights inchoate. Her children by a former marriage sue her widower to recover her share of property he sold.

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adjective

Having no distinct shape: amorphous, formless, shapeless, unformed, unshaped. See order/disorder.

adj

Definition: undeveloped, beginning
Antonyms: developed, grown, mature

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Imperfect; partial; unfinished; begun, but not completed; as in a contract not executed by all the parties.

A state of activity or entitlement that is characterized by partial completion of an intended outcome or status.

The notion of inchoate comes into play most often in a legal sense, as it could refer to an inchoate transaction between two parties, where the tentative terms of an agreement have been discussed and it's plausible that the deal will go through, but no formal agreement has yet been signed.

Investopedia Says:
The notion of inchoate rights or actions is an important distinction to make in certain situations. For example, an individual may have inchoate title to real estate owned by his or her parents, meaning that he or she will have clear title to the property once the parents pass away.

When applying for a bank loan, it would be critical for the bank manager to understand that the individual only had inchoate title to the property, not full title. Thus, if the bank manager issued a loan to the individual under the unclarified assumption that the bank could foreclose on the properties if the loan went into default, he or she would be in for an unpleasant surprise. This is because the individual would not actually have clear title to the properties, so the bank would have no claim against them.

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being only partly in existence, esp: imperfectly formed or formulated

IN BRIEF: adj. - Not completely formed.

The first step in the planning process is to collect ideas, no matter how inchoate, from every member of the team.

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See words rhyming with "inchoate."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Inchoate.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - ufuldkommen, ufuldstændig, være i sin vorden

Nederlands (Dutch)
pril, onrijp, beginnen

Français (French)
adj. - vague, naissant, débutant, rudimentaire, fruste, incomplet, inachevé

Deutsch (German)
adj. - anfänglich, unfertig

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - νεόκοπος, καινοφανής, νεοφανής
v. - αρχίζω

Italiano (Italian)
incipiente, cominciare

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - incipiente, incompleto
v. - começar

Русский (Russian)
начальный, положить начало, неразвитой, зачаточный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - incoado, rudimentario, incipiente

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - begynnande, outvecklad
v. - börja, åstadkomma

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
刚开始的, 未发达的, 早期的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 剛開始的, 未發達的, 早期的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 이제 막 시작한, 미완성의, 미확정의

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 始める
adj. - 始まったばかりの, 不完全な, 未完成の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) ناقص, بدائي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮בראשית ההתפתחות, התחלי, לא שלם, לא מעוצב‬

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