illegible

[ ih-lej-uh-buh l ]
/ ɪˈlɛdʒ ə bəl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR illegible ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not legible; impossible or hard to read or decipher because of poor handwriting, faded print, etc.: This letter is completely illegible.

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Origin of illegible

First recorded in 1605–15; il-2 + legible

OTHER WORDS FROM illegible

il·leg·i·bil·i·ty, il·leg·i·ble·ness, nounil·leg·i·bly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH illegible

illegible illiterate unreadable

Words nearby illegible

illegal, illegal alien, illegal procedure, illegality, illegalize, illegible, illegit, illegitimacy, illegitimate, illegitimatize, illegitimize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to illegible

indecipherable, unintelligible, cramped, faint, indistinct, obscure, scrawled, unclear, undecipherable, crabbed, hieroglyphic

Example sentences from the Web for illegible

British Dictionary definitions for illegible

illegible
/ (ɪˈlɛdʒɪbəl) /

adjective

unable to be read or deciphered

Derived forms of illegible

illegibility or illegibleness, nounillegibly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012