intelligibility
Americannoun
-
the quality or condition of being intelligible; capability of being understood.
-
something intelligible.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of intelligibility
First recorded in 1600–10; intelligible + -ity
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.
Much of it was lost to the audience, since reverberant amplification gave heroic heft to Blanchett’s voice at the cost of intelligibility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
“They didn’t share his optimism that physics will be able to actually produce any theory of intelligibility and consciousness which is responsible for the physical picture of the world.”
From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2025
In that era, the idea of opera as drama was taken seriously, and intelligibility was essential.
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2022
But like most palindromes, Tenet prizes reversibility over intelligibility: The point of “Able was I ere I saw Elba” is that it reads the same both ways, not that it teaches you anything.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2020
Hence it is evident that the grammatical correctness or incorrectness of an expression depends upon its intelligibility, that is to say, upon the ordinary use and custom of a particular language.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" 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.
