legible

adjective

leg·​i·​ble ˈle-jə-bəl 

1

: capable of being read or deciphered : plain

legible handwriting

2

: capable of being discovered or understood

murder sweltered in his heart and was legible upon his face

—Thomas Wolfe

legibility

ˌle-jə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

legibly

ˈle-jə-blē 

adverb

Synonyms

• accessible
• apprehensible
• coherent
• comprehendible
• comprehensible
• fathomable
• graspable
• intelligible
• scrutable
• understandable

Examples of legible in a Sentence

The document is not legible.

an anxious mood that was clearly legible upon her face

Recent Examples on the Web

The technology often struggles to produce legible text in this way. —Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 28 Nov. 2024

Instead of giving us legible signs that Catherine was not the monster of The Perfect Stranger, Cuarón gave us slight evidence that can only be meaningfully interpreted in hindsight. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024

The special economic zone, however, is only one particularly legible facet of a global system of commoditized sovereignty. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Rushing’s main goal was to make the spirituals legible to today’s youth. —Steven Vargas, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin legibilis, from Latin legere to read

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

legible

adjective

leg·​i·​ble ˈlej-ə-bəl 

: capable of being read : plain

legible handwriting

legibility

ˌlej-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

legibly

ˈlej-ə-blē 

adverb