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

• accessible
• apprehensible
• coherent
• comprehendible
• comprehensible
• fathomable
• graspable
• intelligible
• scrutable
• understandable

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

Our punches don’t have the same zip to them; the provocations that once felt exciting and necessary now feel tired, rehearsed, even hypocritical in an arguably juvenile yet still broadly legible way. —Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024

Double-check that all documents are clear and legible to avoid processing delays. —Bryce Welker, Miami Herald, 22 Feb. 2024

Neither chatbot was able to create completely legible text for the invite, but results from Gemini Advanced were worse—closer to scribbles than actual words. —Reece Rogers, WIRED, 15 Feb. 2024

The house’s front garden is less a place for relaxation than a living tapestry, legible only from above, a vantage essential to many of Burle Marx’s projects. —Michael Snyder Pedro Kok, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024

The networks of relationships are almost instantaneously legible. —Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024

Their light-handed approach is still legible in the artifacts and settlement patterns of post-Collapse farming communities and preserved in the flexible tribute schedules for Maya farmers documented by 16th century Spanish monks. —Chelsea Fisher, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2024

The film makes the historical continuity of unchecked police power legible—examining who’s policed, who’s protected and why. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 12 Mar. 2024

Condensing a story of that length, set in 1600s Japan, into 10 hours that will be legible to American audiences? —Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2024

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

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