Standard Lemma guide

indecipherable

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɪndɪˈsaɪfəɹəbəl/
  • /ɪndɪˈsaɪfɹəbəl/
  • /ɪndə-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not decipherable; impossible to decode, read, understand or comprehend.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The doctor's handwriting was indecipherable.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Indistinguishable

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

impossible to determine the meaning of

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an indecipherable message

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

not easily deciphered

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • indecipherable handwriting

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unclear, undecipherable, unreadable

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English in- English decipher Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English decipherable English indecipherable From in- + decipherable.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: indesxifrable — not decipherable
  • Dutch: onontcijferbaar — not decipherable
  • Esperanto: malĉifri — not decipherable
  • French: indéchiffrable — not decipherable
  • German: unentzifferbar — not decipherable
  • German: unentzifferlich — not decipherable
  • Greek: δυσερμήνευτος (dysermíneftos) — not decipherable
  • Hungarian: olvashatatlan — not decipherable
  • Hungarian: kivehetetlen — not decipherable
  • Hungarian: megfejthetetlen — not decipherable
  • Italian: indecifrabile — not decipherable
  • Latvian: neatšifrējams — not decipherable
  • Portuguese: indecifrável — not decipherable