English Meaning & Definitions
The quality or state of being impossible or extremely difficult to understand, perceive, or decipher.
- “The severe static on the radio transmission resulted in complete unintelligibility.”
- “Critics condemned the academic treatise for its dense jargon and general unintelligibility.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “unintelligibility”.
Derived from the prefix 'un-' (meaning 'not') combined with 'intelligibility', which comes from the Late Latin 'intelligibilis' (that can be understood). This traces back to the Latin verb 'intelligere' ('to perceive' or 'to comprehend'), formed from 'inter-' ('between') and 'legere' ('to choose' or 'to read'). Thus, the word literally describes the state of being unable to 'read between' or comprehend meaning.
Break it into chunks: UN (not) + INTELLIGIBLE (understandable) + ITY (quality/state). It literally means the quality of not being understandable.
Frequently Asked Questions About “unintelligibility”
1. What is the meaning of “unintelligibility” in English?
In English, unintelligibility (noun) is defined as: “The quality or state of being impossible or extremely difficult to understand, perceive, or decipher.”.
2. How do you use “unintelligibility” in a sentence?
“The severe static on the radio transmission resulted in complete unintelligibility.”
3. What are English synonyms of “unintelligibility”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “unintelligibility”?
Derived from the prefix 'un-' (meaning 'not') combined with 'intelligibility', which comes from the Late Latin 'intelligibilis' (that can be understood). This traces back to the Latin verb 'intelligere' ('to perceive' or 'to comprehend'), formed from 'inter-' ('between') and 'legere' ('to choose' or 'to read'). Thus, the word literally describes the state of being unable to 'read between' or comprehend meaning.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.