Standard Lemma guide

unrecognizable

adj · 2 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ʌnˈɹɛkə(ɡ)naɪzəbəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ʌnˈɹɛkəɡnaɪzəbəl/
  • General-American, nonstandard: /ʌnˈɹɛkənaɪzəbəl/
  • obsolete: /ʌnɹɪˈkɒɡnɪzəbəl/
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N R EH2 K AH0 G N AY1 Z AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

That cannot be recognized, especially because of substantial changes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: British, English, Oxford, US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: irrecognizable

Antonyms: recognizable

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

defying recognition as e.g. because of damage or alteration

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unrecognisable

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- English cognize English recognize 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 unrecognizable From un- + recognize + -able.

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: tanınmaz — that cannot be recognized
  • Bulgarian: неузнаваем (neuznavaem) — that cannot be recognized
  • Catalan: irreconeixible — that cannot be recognized
  • Chinese Mandarin: 无法辨认的 — that cannot be recognized
  • Chinese Mandarin: 未被认可的 — that cannot be recognized
  • Chinese Mandarin: 未被承认的 — that cannot be recognized
  • Danish: uigenkendelig — that cannot be recognized
  • Danish: ugenkendelig — that cannot be recognized
  • Danish: ukendelig — that cannot be recognized
  • Dutch: onherkenbaar — that cannot be recognized
  • Esperanto: nerekonebla — that cannot be recognized
  • Faroese: ókenniligur — that cannot be recognized
  • Finnish: tunnistamaton — that cannot be recognized
  • French: méconnaissable — that cannot be recognized
  • Galician: irrecoñecible — that cannot be recognized
  • Galician: irrecoñecíbel — that cannot be recognized
  • German: unerkennbar — that cannot be recognized
  • German: unkenntlich — that cannot be recognized
  • German: nicht wiederzuerkennen — that cannot be recognized
  • Greek: αγνώριστος (agnóristos) — that cannot be recognized
  • Hungarian: felismerhetetlen — that cannot be recognized
  • Icelandic: ókennilegur — that cannot be recognized
  • Italian: irriconoscibile — that cannot be recognized
  • Polish: nierozpoznawalny — that cannot be recognized
  • Portuguese: irreconhecível — that cannot be recognized
  • Russian: неузнава́емый (neuznavájemyj) — that cannot be recognized
  • Slovak: nerozpoznateľný — that cannot be recognized
  • Spanish: irreconocible — that cannot be recognized
  • Swedish: oigenkännlig — that cannot be recognized
  • Ukrainian: невпізна́нний (nevpiznánnyj) — that cannot be recognized
  • Ukrainian: невпізна́ваний (nevpiznávanyj) — that cannot be recognized
Real reading context

unrecognizable in complete knowledge articles