unreadable — illegible, unreadable In current use what is illegible is not clear enough to be decipherable (as in illegible handwriting), and what is unreadable can be physically read but is too dull to be worth reading or too difficult to be understood … Modern English usage
illegible — eligible, illegible These are more likely to be confused in casual speech than in considered writing. Eligible means ‘fit or entitled to be chosen’ (eligible for a pension) or ‘desirable, suitable’ (an eligible bachelor). Illegible means ‘(of… … Modern English usage
unreadable — See illegible; See also readable. See illegible, unreadable … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
illegible — See illegible, unreadable … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
unreadable — (adj.) c.1810, of written material, dull, distasteful, from UN (Cf. un ) (1) not + READABLE (Cf. readable). Meaning illegible is from 1830 … Etymology dictionary
illegible — [adj] unreadable cacographic, crabbed, cramped, difficult to read, faint, hard to make out*, hieroglyphic, indecipherable, indistinct, obscure, scrawled, unclear, undecipherable, unintelligible; concepts 535,576 Ant. decipherable, legible,… … New thesaurus
unreadable — [adj] illegible cacographic, crabbed, difficult to read, hard to make out*, incomprehensible, indecipherable, scrawled, scribbled, unclear, undecipherable; concepts 535,576 … New thesaurus
unreadable — ► ADJECTIVE 1) not clear enough to read; illegible. 2) too dull or difficult to be worth reading. DERIVATIVES unreadability noun unreadably adverb … English terms dictionary
illegible — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) adj. unreadable, ill written, scrawled; jumbled, pied. See unintelligibility.Ant., legible. II (Roget s IV) modif. Syn. unreadable, indecipherable, unintelligible, faint, obscured, difficult to read,… … English dictionary for students
unreadable — [[t]ʌ̱nri͟ːdəb(ə)l[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you use unreadable to describe a book or other piece of writing, you are criticizing it because it is very boring, complicated, or difficult to understand. For some this is the greatest novel … English dictionary
