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
The content might seem unreadable due to being crammed with techno-psych terminology.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
But Moulton’s disciplinary record is of interest following the death of Gerald Neal, 56, who was killed Feb. 12 as Moulton — driving an unmarked truck and in apparent violation of OPD’s pursuit protocol — chased another vehicle into the Holden Heights neighborhood over an unreadable license plate.
—Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Mar. 2025
Transit sources told The News that footage on the cards is stored in a proprietary format, and should be unreadable without the MTA’s own software.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 1 May 2025
Eventually, the register ended up in the collections of the Cambridge University Library, and in 2019, researchers discovered an unreadable handwritten fragment hidden inside its binding, which triggered a yearslong restoration project.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreadable
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
But Moulton’s disciplinary record is of interest following the death of Gerald Neal, 56, who was killed Feb. 12 as Moulton — driving an unmarked truck and in apparent violation of OPD’s pursuit protocol — chased another vehicle into the Holden Heights neighborhood over an unreadable license plate.
—Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Mar. 2025
Transit sources told The News that footage on the cards is stored in a proprietary format, and should be unreadable without the MTA’s own software.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 1 May 2025
Eventually, the register ended up in the collections of the Cambridge University Library, and in 2019, researchers discovered an unreadable handwritten fragment hidden inside its binding, which triggered a yearslong restoration project.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreadable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreadable
illegible
Adjective
-
Acronyms and jargon illegible to civilians are flying everywhere, and the world effectively shrinks down to a two-story duplex the Americans have commandeered and the market across the street viewed almost exclusively through a sniper’s scope.—
Paul A. Thompson,
Pitchfork,
17 Apr. 2025
-
In other words, the historical record seems as illegible as my own prehistoric handwriting.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unreadable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreadable. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
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