indecipherable
/ɪndɪˈsaɪfəɹəbəl/adjective
indecipherable is spelled I-N-D-E-C-I-P-H-E-R-A-B-L-E: 14 letters. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, indecipherable means “Not decipherable; impossible to decode, read, understand or comprehend” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in indecipherable?
| Letters | 14: I-N-D-E-C-I-P-H-E-R-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 71,529th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is indecipherable?
Indecipherable appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce indecipherable?
- /ɪndɪˈsaɪfəɹəbəl/
- /ɪndɪˈsaɪfɹəbəl/
- /ɪndə-/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Eleanorrrrrrrrrr-indecipherable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of indecipherable
- more indecipherable comparative
- most indecipherable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does indecipherable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not decipherable; impossible to decode, read, understand or comprehend.
The doctor's handwriting was indecipherable.
- 2
Indistinguishable
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Indecipherable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not decipherable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | indéchiffrable |
| German | unentzifferbar, unentzifferlich |
| Portuguese | indecifrável |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does indecipherable come from?
From in- + decipherable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).