What does unintelligible mean?
Unintelligible describes speech, writing, language, or other material that cannot be understood. A person may describe a message as unintelligible when its words are garbled, obscure, or presented in an unfamiliar system, while linguists use the term when comparing languages or varieties that speakers cannot readily understand. The word is more emphatic than merely difficult: it suggests that the intended meaning cannot be recovered without additional information or specialist knowledge. In everyday use, it can refer to badly recorded speech, damaged manuscripts, complicated formulas, or unfamiliar jargon. Its technical use in linguistics is especially significant because related terms such as mutually intelligible distinguish the practical ability to understand another language from superficial similarities in vocabulary or grammar.
adjectiveUnable to be understood or interpreted. It describes speech, writing, language, signals, or other material whose meaning cannot be made out.
- Impossible or extremely difficult to understand or interpret.
"The recording was so distorted that her instructions became completely unintelligible."
"The scientist frowned at the unintelligible sequence of numbers on the monitor."
"Much of the manuscript remains unintelligible because several pages are badly damaged."
Two languages can resemble each other without their speakers being able to understand one another: linguists describe such languages as mutually unintelligible.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does unintelligible come from?
Unintelligible was formed in the early 17th century from the Latin adjective intelligibilis, meaning “intelligible” or “understandable,” with the prefix un- expressing negation. Latin intelligere means “to understand,” while intelligibilis belongs to the same classical root found in intellect, intelligence, and intelligent. The English word therefore literally means “not understandable,” a sense it retains in both general and technical usage.
Related word forms
How unintelligible is actually used
The word is neutral in tone but often sounds formal or technical. It is especially common in discussions of speech, language, writing, signals, and communication; in general prose, incomprehensible may sound somewhat more natural.
Easily confused with unintelligible
Unintelligible means that something cannot be understood, whereas illegible means that it cannot be read, usually because the handwriting or print is unclear.
The terms are closely related, but incomprehensible more directly expresses the inability to understand something, while unintelligible is also common in technical discussions of language and communication.