Incipient means something has only just started to happen or exist — so early that you might miss it if you are not looking. An incipient cold is that first scratchy feeling, not the day you are in bed with a fever. An incipient problem is a small crack, not the wall already falling down. Writers like it for things that are beginning to show: an incipient smile, incipient panic, incipient baldness. It is a formal, slightly bookish word. Doctors, reports, and careful essays use it; friends in a café would more often say “just starting” or “early.” It is almost always an adjective before a noun. You would not usually call a person “incipient.” And it is a poor fit once the thing is clearly underway — then it has already left the “incipient” stage.