decipher
Americanverb (used with object)
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deciphers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deciphered,
past participle, past
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deciphering
present participle
-
to make out the meaning of (poor or partially obliterated writing, etc.).
to decipher a hastily scribbled note.
-
to discover the meaning of (anything obscure or difficult to trace or understand).
to decipher hieroglyphics.
- Synonyms:
- explain, unravel, solve, comprehend
-
to interpret by the use of a key, as something written in cipher.
to decipher a secret message.
-
Obsolete. to depict; portray.
verb
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to determine the meaning of (something obscure or illegible)
-
to convert from code into plain text; decode
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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decipherabilitynoun
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decipherernoun
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deciphermentnoun
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decipherableadjective
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undecipherableadjective
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undecipheredadjective
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undecipherablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deciphersimple
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decipherssimple
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have decipheredperfect
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has decipheredperfect
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am decipheringprogressive
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are decipheringprogressive
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is decipheringprogressive
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have been decipheringperfect progressive
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has been decipheringperfect progressive
Past
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decipheredsimple
-
had decipheredperfect
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was decipheringprogressive
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were decipheringprogressive
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had been decipheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decipher
First recorded in 1520–30; translation of Middle French déchiffrer; equivalent to de- + cipher
Explanation
Decipher means translate from code, or more generally, figure out. If you can’t decipher your teacher's writing, it means you can't read it. You might feel like you're being asked to decipher a code. During World War II, the Nazis used a machine called the Enigma to encode secret messages. An operator would type the message with a keyboard, which would activate a set of rotors, giving each letter a different value. The code was difficult for the Allies to crack, but eventually the code was deciphered by the British, hastening the end of the war.
Vocabulary lists containing decipher
English Words Derived from Arabic
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The City of Ember
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"Poetry"
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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.
See Examples For:
The competition offered a $700,000 Grand Prize to the first person who could decipher four passages containing at least 140 characters each from two Herculaneum scrolls imaged with X-ray CT.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
You don’t need to decide what to watch or decipher subtext and creative interpretation.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2026
No, multiple academics have attempted to decipher the meaning behind the mightily adorable meow of the domestic house cat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
When the second-largest U.S. bank discloses its quarterly financial results, analysts have to decipher the lexicon of CEO Brian Moynihan, riddled with obscure, archaic words like “gainsay,” “concomitant” and “fantods.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
And when you’re done with your poem, decipher it as if you’d just found it printed in a textbook and knew absolutely nothing about its author.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
Ms. Allen traces pen names, decodes handwriting and deciphers marginalia in Richmond’s correspondence and books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The fact that the bat brainstem processes various complex acoustic signals differently can also help scientists to understand how the brain deciphers and processes complex human speech.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2024
She studies for the driver’s license test with them, deciphers public transportation for them and most of all just lets them know she is here to listen and help.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
The brain deciphers the signals and takes action in milliseconds - a process completed every second or so for 12 or more hours a day.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
Which is the natural man, And which the spirit? who deciphers them?
From The Comedy of Errors The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] by William George Clark
For decades, they remained largely untouched, but researchers have now deciphered them, uncovering texts that range from magical rituals to royal records and everyday administrative notes.
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
But the point for Kagan in bringing up this legislative history was merely to provide “yet more proof” of statutory meaning already deciphered through “straight-up statutory construction.”
From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2026
The data turned out to be essential to cracking the case, the people said, a breakthrough that happened only recently when a tech-savvy law-enforcement officer wrote a new computer program that finally deciphered the information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
The S-shaped copper sculpture has baffled cryptography enthusiasts since its 1990 installation on the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Virginia, with three of its four messages deciphered so far.
From Barron's ● Nov. 19, 2025
In order not to have our notes read or understood by the authorities if they were found, we devised ways of writing that could not easily be seen or deciphered.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
But there is no standardized public key for deciphering them; codes vary among plants and products, and the absence of an obvious “TF” is no guarantee Taylor Farms wasn’t involved.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
And with wedding season in full swing, our style experts offer advice for deciphering head-scratching dress codes like “Hollywood Western” and “Catskills chic.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The bots also weren’t great at deciphering things like maps.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
"We are deciphering the 'identity card' of tumors, by identifying, one by one, the key variables that determine the evolution of the disease," explains Pittet.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 10, 2026
So they turned back to the task of deciphering.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
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.
