incongruity.

A mismatch between things that seem not to belong together or meet expectations.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• striking incongruity
• incongruity of the scene

On the page

The incongruity of his evening dress in the flooded street made her laugh.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Countable or uncountable by context; countable singular incongruity; plural incongruities. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.