incoherently
incoherently — adverb
1. with words coming out broken, slurred, or hard to follow, often because the spea
with words coming out broken, slurred, or hard to follow, often because the speaker is upset, ill, exhausted, or drunk.
After the seizure, Christopher answered the nurse incoherently for several minutes.
answer + incoherently in an emergency context
Nadia was crying so hard that she spoke incoherently into the voicemail.
speak incoherently after strong emotion
By dawn, David had drunk enough to laugh and mutter incoherently.
The witness began speaking incoherently, then paused and asked for some water.
When the fever spiked again, Aoi called home incoherently from bed.
- unintelligibly
stronger; suggests listeners cannot even make out the words
- confusedly
broader and less tied to speech breaking down
- ramblingly
suggests wandering from point to point rather than distress alone
- coherently
the direct opposite — in a clear, connected way
- lucidly
formal; emphasizes mental clarity while speaking
文法句型
speak/talk/mutter + incoherently
answer + incoherently
用法筆記
Usually modifies verbs such as speak, answer, mutter, or talk. Distinguish from sense 2: here the speaker is failing in the moment, rather than an argument or text lacking structure.
常見錯誤
2. with ideas jumping from point to point or missing the links between them, so an
with ideas jumping from point to point or missing the links between them, so an explanation, argument, plan, or piece of writing is hard to follow as a whole.
The minister defended the policy incoherently, changing his reason every minute.
argue incoherently with shifting reasons
Wren's essay moves incoherently between climate data and travel memories.
move incoherently between two idea sets
The two reports were stitched together incoherently and repeated the same statistics.
During the debate, Ramón argued incoherently and never answered the main question.
The website explains refunds incoherently, so customers keep calling the helpline.
- illogically
focuses on bad reasoning steps rather than loose organization
- disjointedly
suggests broken links between parts that should connect
- haphazardly
broader and more informal; emphasizes lack of plan
- coherently
the direct opposite — ideas hold together clearly
- logically
stresses sound reasoning and sensible sequence
文法句型
argue/write/explain + incoherently
move incoherently between X and Y
用法筆記
Usually modifies verbs linked to reasoning or organization, such as argue, explain, write, or present. Distinguish from sense 1: with sense 2, the ideas fail to connect even if the speaker sounds calm.