illegible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of illegible
Explanation
When your friend scribbles a note to you and you can’t figure out what it says, it’s because her handwriting is illegible — it’s unreadable. The adjective illegible is often used to describe handwriting, because people tend to have their own styles and sometimes write in a pretty messy way. But it can also refer to printed words that are faded or for some other reason difficult to read. If you leave a book open in the rain, the print will probably become illegible. If you’re walking in an old graveyard, the writing on the tombstones is often illegible.
Vocabulary lists containing illegible
And Then There Were None
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Speak
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A Lesson Before Dying
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Illegible in themselves, the fragments of form live "a collective life," like the faces in "a proletarian procession."
From Time Magazine Archive
An Illegible Page from Diary The entries in my journal for this time are exceedingly meagre; there are sometimes weeks when there is nothing but the most necessary meteorological observations with remarks.
From Farthest North Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896 by Nansen, Fridtjof
Illegible and missing letters repaired from the context.
From The History of Sabatai Sevi The Suppos'd Messiah of the Jews by Evelyn, John
Illegible words either scribbled on scraps of paper or sent as distorted faxed messages were among the most popular methods deployed to communicate their reports.
From Behind the News: Voices from Goa's Press by Various
Illegible, il-lej′i-bl, adj. that cannot be read: indistinct.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
