as in unreadable
incapable of being read or deciphered
illegible signatures on the petition will be disregarded
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of illegible
Managers flagged signs as being worn and illegible.
—
Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 11 Mar. 2026
But a prelinguistic intuition also simmers, for example, in a set of illegible, calligraphic drawings that suggest something just preceding the nascence of writing.
—Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2026
The bottles may have missing or illegible lot codes and expiration dates.
—Jenna Anderson, Health, 30 Jan. 2026
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, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for illegible
Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 11 Mar. 2026
But a prelinguistic intuition also simmers, for example, in a set of illegible, calligraphic drawings that suggest something just preceding the nascence of writing.
—Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2026
The bottles may have missing or illegible lot codes and expiration dates.
—Jenna Anderson, Health, 30 Jan. 2026
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, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for illegible
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegible
Adjective
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Denilson Baniwa has argued that one of Indigenous art’s most effective instruments of resistance is disguise—the adoption of non-Indigenous forms to achieve legibility in white, institutional terms, while the actual logic resides elsewhere, unreadable to those the work isn’t intended for.—
María Carri,
Artforum,
16 Apr. 2026
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Yasmin Kara-Hanani and Henry Muck are out of their depth in the flashy offices of Tender, a start-up led by the smooth-talking, unreadable Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella).—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The movie is available on YouTube, while the original documentary has been taken off HBO's streaming services until 2029 due to an obscure non-disparagement clause contained within a deal the premium cable service made with Jackson in 1992, as Reed told Variety.—
Tommy McArdle,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
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Human ears couldn't possibly distinguish the names of obscure songs in one bar's music round.—
David Oliver,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In Islamabad, the almost indecipherable whisper of leaks has turned to crickets.—
Nic Robertson,
CNN Money,
23 Apr. 2026
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Diving into our nearly indecipherable monthly utility bills, most customers will find their electric delivery charges exceed their electric generation charges.—
Craig D. Rose,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The book portrays the city as a liminal metropolis where the line demarcating business and crime has been worn faint by heavy footfall from both directions.—
Mark O’Connell,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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That's a whopping 500-meter--wide (1,640-foot) dish, ideal for picking up faint signals from far away.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The spirit and the symbolism were, at times, undecipherable.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
8 Feb. 2026
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Several creators who previously worked day jobs tell Rolling Stone that there’s an ongoing stigma surrounding the idea of leaving a steady day job — a stigma that’s decided less by rules and more by undecipherable vibes.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
26 July 2025
Adjective
-
Whether that happened is unclear.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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The extent of Bryant’s actual role in Mizell’s murder has been unclear.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Illegible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegible. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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