as in incomprehensible
impossible to understand
uttered only a string of unintelligible murmurs
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Recent Examples of unintelligible
The words were unintelligible on the video, but Sacramento Police Department officials in a statement summarizing the incident said the man told officers to shoot him.
—
Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 15 May 2025
Howard spoke with officers but was unintelligible, police said.
—Bailey Richards, People.com, 10 May 2025
There is only enunciating, as paragraphs of narrative are diverted into rushing mouthfuls of unintelligible high-speed monologue.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
Franklin’s script just doesn’t find an emotional center among so many stock, under-articulated strands, though that may be partly due to thick accents rendering some dialogue unintelligible to American ears.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unintelligible
Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 15 May 2025
Howard spoke with officers but was unintelligible, police said.
—Bailey Richards, People.com, 10 May 2025
There is only enunciating, as paragraphs of narrative are diverted into rushing mouthfuls of unintelligible high-speed monologue.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
Franklin’s script just doesn’t find an emotional center among so many stock, under-articulated strands, though that may be partly due to thick accents rendering some dialogue unintelligible to American ears.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unintelligible
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unintelligible
Adjective
-
Alex Hartman runs the meme page Nolita Dirtbag on Instagram, and tells Rolling Stone the nervous emotions around Mamdani’s win could be in part because of how utterly incomprehensible or cruel many of the Trump administration decisions seem to be.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
26 June 2025
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In a brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible (BANI) world where change is the only constant, the leadership traits that once earned respect—tenacity, decisiveness and stoicism—are no longer enough.—
Arthi Rabikrisson,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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Before long, his life is plagued by a series of mysterious, sinister incidents that threaten to upend his success and bring about a most violent demise.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
1 July 2025
-
In The Old Guard 2, following on from the climax of the first film, Andy must come to terms with her newfound mortality while preparing to face a mysterious foe (played by Uma Thurman).—
Abid Rahman,
HollywoodReporter,
1 July 2025
Adjective
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The cryptic introduction is a subtle nod to the bartenders that the patron is about to order one of four drinks from the Burning Blade secret menu.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
25 June 2025
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The moment helped confirm a romance that had been rumored for several months following several cryptic Instagram posts.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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That the vice president would be more amusing with less hair, a perfectly rounded face, and an uncanny, doll-like stare?—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
25 June 2025
-
In Girls with Long Shadows, the triplets are linked by that uncanny psychological and physical sibling familiarity; if one sister has a headache, the other two’s temples pulse with empathetic pain.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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Of course, Yamagata is a long way to go just to peep some jellyfish, so combine a visit with the misty temples of nearby Dewa Sanzan, three mountains sacred to the ascetics of the esoteric Shugendo religion.—
Jessica Kozuka,
Travel + Leisure,
27 May 2025
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They: • Invest not just in systems, but in states • Optimize not just for growth, but for resonance • Scale not from stress, but from coherence This isn’t esoteric.—
Carrie Anne Yu,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Built inside a mountain some 300 feet underground and reinforced by layers of concrete, the plant, which is the most likely target of a potential American strike, is impenetrable by any bomb except the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 June 2025
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This must be key to Trump’s impenetrable calculations.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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McNeeley was about 4, and playing against first graders, 6- and 7-year olds, which is almost unfathomable.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
25 June 2025
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In a turn that once seemed unfathomable, Spanish-language music has become a mainstay in the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts, and in 2024 Latin music in the U.S. reached a record-breaking $1.4 billion in revenue.—
Ernesto Lechner,
Los Angeles Times,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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Their final products include paintings, sketches, audio recordings, sculptures and videos of some of the Louvre’s most iconic artworks, as well as some of its more obscure.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 June 2025
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Answers vary from obvious to obscure, some citing culture or clutch performances, while others cling to cliches that this club is turning into truths.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unintelligible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unintelligible. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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