legible

adjective

leg·​i·​ble ˈle-jə-bəl 

1

: capable of being read or deciphered : plain

legible handwriting

2

: capable of being discovered or understood

murder sweltered in his heart and was legible upon his face

—Thomas Wolfe

legibility

ˌle-jə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

legibly

ˈle-jə-blē 

adverb

Synonyms

• understandable
• accessible

Examples of legible in a Sentence

The document is not legible.

an anxious mood that was clearly legible upon her face

Recent Examples on the Web

But part of healing is unlearning the belief that your pain needs to be legible to others to be valid. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025

All Systems Red is a legible introduction to Wells’ hyper-capitalist, playfully satiric galaxy. —Rory Doherty, Time, 16 May 2025

Immediately, our conversation appeared as legible lines of translucent green text, which seemed to be floating in the space between us. —David Owen, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025

In jumbles of old stones that, to me, are barely legible as the remains of buildings, Cocon López could see the entire timeline of old Aké and how later people interacted with and repurposed what came before. —Lizzie Wade, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin legibilis, from Latin legere to read

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for legible

• illegible

Kids Definition

legible

adjective

leg·​i·​ble ˈlej-ə-bəl 

: capable of being read : plain

legible handwriting

legibility

ˌlej-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

legibly

ˈlej-ə-blē 

adverb