as in illegible
incapable of being read or deciphered
after so many years the paper label in the drawer of the antique desk is indecipherable
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Recent Examples of indecipherable
The formal complexity and poignant quietude of Jia’s filmmaking haven’t endeared him much to previous Cannes juries, and for some this latest entry, with its dizzying chains of intertextuality, must have seemed imposing to the point of being indecipherable.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 2 May 2025
What Your Cat's Personality Says About You, From An Animal Behaviorist
By
Maria Azzurra Volpe
Life and Trends Reporter
Newsweek Is A Trust Project Member
news article
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Cats might have mastered the art of mystery, but their feelings are not entirely indecipherable to us.
—Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025
There are neither crude jokes nor wise-ass anecdotes, only quick, indecipherable bursts of jargon.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025
Researchers at the University of Oxford recently set out to read some of Tennyson’s indecipherable scribbles using advanced imaging techniques.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indecipherable
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 2 May 2025
What Your Cat's Personality Says About You, From An Animal Behaviorist
By
Maria Azzurra Volpe
Life and Trends Reporter
Newsweek Is A Trust Project Member
news article
0
Cats might have mastered the art of mystery, but their feelings are not entirely indecipherable to us.
—Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025
There are neither crude jokes nor wise-ass anecdotes, only quick, indecipherable bursts of jargon.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025
Researchers at the University of Oxford recently set out to read some of Tennyson’s indecipherable scribbles using advanced imaging techniques.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indecipherable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for indecipherable
illegible
Adjective
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The letter featured a number of typos, and the Federal Reserve’s seal was illegible and appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence.—
Sylvan Lane,
The Hill,
22 July 2025
-
His striking work, Protest, depicts the bloodshed of Sri Lanka’s long civil war, using books that are charred or rendered illegible, often decorated with symbolic or figurative objects, like toy-soldier figurines marching across a soiled page.—
Thessaly La Force,
Travel + Leisure,
4 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Indecipherable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/indecipherable. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.
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