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
In some cases, postmarks may also be faint or unreadable.
—
Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 7 Jan. 2026
Some pages that are currently public are entirely unreadable.
—William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for unreadable
Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 7 Jan. 2026
Some pages that are currently public are entirely unreadable.
—William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for unreadable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreadable
illegible
Adjective
-
Willimantic Police provided a handwritten log that was inconsistent and sometimes illegible.—
Ginny Monk,
ProPublica,
27 Apr. 2026
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Potier decodes that practically illegible document and creates a 3-D realization that grows from a fantastically complex swirl of interlocking geometries.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unreadable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreadable. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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