unintelligible
/ˌʌnɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒɪbəl/adjective
unintelligible is spelled U-N-I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-I-B-L-E: 14 letters and 6 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unintelligible means “Not intelligible; unable to be understood” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unintelligible?
| Letters | 14: U-N-I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,176th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is unintelligible?
Unintelligible appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th 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 unintelligible?
- /ˌʌnɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒɪbəl/
Unintelligible has 6 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-unintelligible.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unintelligible
- more unintelligible comparative
- most unintelligible superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unintelligible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not intelligible; unable to be understood.
And indeed, my lord, there are so many passages in your writing in this controversy with me, which for their construction, as well as otherwise, are so unintelligible to me, that if I should be so unmannerly as to measure your understanding
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unintelligible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not intelligible:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | inintelligible |
| German | unverständlich |
| Portuguese | ininteligível, incompreensível |
| Spanish | ininteligible |
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 unintelligible come from?
From un- + intelligible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).