unintelligible

[uhn-in-tel-i-juh-buhl]

adjective

1. not intelligible; not capable of being understood.

   Synonyms: undecipherable, baffling, incomprehensible

unintelligible

/ ˌʌnɪnˈtɛlɪdʒɪbəl /

adjective

1. not able to be understood; incomprehensible

Other Word Forms

• unintelligibility noun
• unintelligibleness noun
• unintelligibly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unintelligible¹

First recorded in 1610–20; un- ¹ + intelligible

Example Sentences

The practice could be seen everywhere on the daily commute, adorned on walls, tunnels and metal shutters - always unintelligible, loud and colourful.

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Whatever she said was rendered unintelligible among the thunderous cheers of fans who surged forward, putting her entourage to the test.

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Casual viewers might have agreed more with Samuel L Jackson's plea for Lamar to keep it light; especially as some of his more densely-written lyrics were rendered unintelligible by the stadium's cavernous echo.

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The plane then passed the threshold for Runway 24, and an “unintelligible transmission was heard” from the plane.

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Such supernatural activity is accompanied by extreme close-ups of an eye, occasioning thoughts of Sauron, and sometimes an unintelligible voice that occasions thoughts of the Beastie Boys’ ”Intergalactic.”

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Related Words

• illegible 
• impenetrable 
• incomprehensible 
• indecipherable 
• meaningless 
• opaque 
• unfathomable 
• vague