as in understandable
capable of being understood
speculation on the odds that a communication from a far-off planet would be intelligible
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Recent Examples of intelligible
Well, a University of Texas at Arlington researcher is aiming to turn barks, howls and whimpers of man’s best friend into intelligible speech — a kind of Rosetta Stone of woof.
—
Miriam Fauzia, Boston Herald, 12 Oct. 2025
At a moment when many people’s thoughts and feelings about antisemitism are intense without necessarily being intelligible to others, and when accusations of antisemitism are tremendously forceful, Mazower’s book makes an immense contribution.
—Book Marks
september 25, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
The story is actually intelligible this time around, but while the mecha designs look wonderful, the characters definitely needed more work.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
The resulting voice was often intelligible, but not consistently so.
—IEEE Spectrum, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for intelligible
Miriam Fauzia, Boston Herald, 12 Oct. 2025
At a moment when many people’s thoughts and feelings about antisemitism are intense without necessarily being intelligible to others, and when accusations of antisemitism are tremendously forceful, Mazower’s book makes an immense contribution.
—Book Marks
september 25, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
The story is actually intelligible this time around, but while the mecha designs look wonderful, the characters definitely needed more work.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
The resulting voice was often intelligible, but not consistently so.
—IEEE Spectrum, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for intelligible
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intelligible
Adjective
-
In a social situation where a single behavior can lead to accolades (if successful) or public ridicule (if failed), pushing risks past all reason may be understandable, particularly for individuals who have already built their identity and reputation around being an elite risk-taker.—
Christopher Ferguson,
Big Think,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Not wishing to linger on the emotional repercussions of these hurtful incidents is understandable, of course.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Instead of opening in a separate tab, the assistant now lives in a side panel that stays accessible across all tabs.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
-
The fraudsters, those administrators say, are taking advantage of a vulnerability created by the degree to which these schools are accessible to students.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Erratic as the president sounds, the Trumpian worldview is comprehensible and even, in some respects, predictable.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
-
All of it’s fake, from an ever-growing branch of accounts that use the same verbiage and link to barely comprehensible mock news stories.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Intelligible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intelligible. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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