as in illegible
incapable of being read or deciphered
the old book contains an inscription, but the handwriting is cramped and unreadable
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Recent Examples of unreadable
There’s a local doctor, Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), who has slipped into alcoholic despair since his wife left him, and Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), a best-selling author and self-professed recovering liberal, whose rightward drift has led him to write an unreadable book about Wicks’s life.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2025
Sedulous stared at him for a long moment, unreadable, then suddenly gave another loud, cawing laugh.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
For instance, some denials could stem from easily correctable errors if the parents knew of those errors, such as unreadable dental scans or wording from the orthodontist's office that didn't fully explain the medical necessity.
—Beth Warren, Nashville Tennessean, 8 Dec. 2025
Baby ponders love in all its rejuvenating and off-putting shapes, sweating with a husband and father’s devotion but sometimes with a son’s pining for a closer connection with an oaklike and unreadable elder.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreadable
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2025
Sedulous stared at him for a long moment, unreadable, then suddenly gave another loud, cawing laugh.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
For instance, some denials could stem from easily correctable errors if the parents knew of those errors, such as unreadable dental scans or wording from the orthodontist's office that didn't fully explain the medical necessity.
—Beth Warren, Nashville Tennessean, 8 Dec. 2025
Baby ponders love in all its rejuvenating and off-putting shapes, sweating with a husband and father’s devotion but sometimes with a son’s pining for a closer connection with an oaklike and unreadable elder.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreadable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreadable
illegible
Adjective
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In late December, the Parodontax Active Gum Health mouthwash was pulled from shelves due to missing or illegible lot codes and expiration dates.—
Jenna Anderson,
Health,
30 Jan. 2026
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He was less intimidated by its befuddling organization and had grown accustomed to the antiquated spellings and the nearly illegible, unpunctuated scribblings of harried seventeenth-century officials.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unreadable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreadable. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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