unintelligible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unintelligible
First recorded in 1610–20; un- 1 + intelligible
Explanation
Something unintelligible is difficult to understand, either because the room is too noisy or because the unintelligible thing is too quiet or confusing. We use our intelligence to understand things, and something intelligible is easy to understand. Therefore, unintelligible things are hard to understand. A coded message is unintelligible if you don't know the code. A whisper in a loud room is unintelligible. A weird sentence like "The waffles ran away from the Easter basket" is unintelligible because it doesn't make any sense. If you can't hear or understand something, it's unintelligible (and probably frustrating too).
Vocabulary lists containing unintelligible
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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.
As last year’s wildfires multiplied, still 0% contained, field reporters — tasked with articulating the unintelligible on camera — grieved alongside Los Angeles in real time.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 5, 2026
The practice could be seen everywhere on the daily commute, adorned on walls, tunnels and metal shutters - always unintelligible, loud and colourful.
From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025
But what has chapped the angry user base seems to be not the A.I. but the unintelligible changes to the platform’s user interface.
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2025
For example, during a rally in Montana on Friday, Trump appears to “glitch” and pause as he searches for words and then makes unintelligible noises and strange utterances.
From Salon • Aug. 13, 2024
And then I saw the black car, a weathered Ford, parked in Charlie’s driveway — and heard Edward mutter something unintelligible in a low, harsh voice.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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.
