decipher
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make out the meaning of (poor or partially obliterated writing, etc.).
to decipher a hastily scribbled note.
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to discover the meaning of (anything obscure or difficult to trace or understand).
to decipher hieroglyphics.
- Synonyms:
- explain, unravel, solve, comprehend
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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)
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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
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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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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 nature of trust has changed - there are a lot of stories and theories in front of people and it's hard to decipher one thing from the next," he says.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
"Gaia is delivering on its promise: by combining its data with ground-based spectroscopy and galaxy simulations, it allows us to decipher the formation history of our Galaxy."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2026
Wall Street is trying to decipher who the software winners and losers will be as artificial intelligence capabilities ramp up.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Carmel-by-the-Sea has long had its own dispatch center, with workers trained to decipher people’s descriptions of where they live, former Police Chief Paul Tomasi told The Times in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
At one point, he was even asked to decipher radio signals thought to come from Mars.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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 new study deciphers the whole reaction network for the first time, determines the dominant molecular pathway and unveils the critical role of electrocatalysis in modifying the reaction's kinetics.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 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
At about this time a gentile captain came from a rancheria designated Guche or Getche, depending upon how one deciphers the handwriting of the manuscript.
From The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California by Cook, Sherburne F.
The signature in the upper right of the picture was deciphered using AI and specialists at the auction house Lyon & Turnbull were able to confirm the artist as Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
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
Signal's end-to-end encryption means that any sent message travels in a scrambled form and can only be deciphered by the end user.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 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 guardians of his republic, its elite ruling class, having deciphered the “law of births,” would ensure that only such harmonious “fortunate” unions would occur in the future.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
But the predicament we face in deciphering the Venetian statistics is hardly unique.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 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
She exits her state without deciphering Paula’s words, yet feels an innate and moving satisfaction anyway, as if she could glean the meaning of what her former patient said without understanding every word.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
Even for policy wonks, it’s a challenge to keep up with the cadence of discounts and negotiated prices while deciphering what is merely optics and what represents actual savings.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 4, 2025
As the courses progress, when she is not distracted by the astounding quality of the food, Celia makes a game of deciphering the relationships between the guests.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
