unreadable
adjective
unreadable is spelled U-N-R-E-A-D-A-B-L-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unreadable means “Not written clearly enough to be deciphered” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unreadable?
| Letters | 10: U-N-R-E-A-D-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,947th 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 unreadable?
Unreadable appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th 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 unreadable?
Unreadable has 4 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unreadable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unreadable
- more unreadable comparative
- most unreadable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unreadable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not written clearly enough to be deciphered.
unreadable handwriting
- 2
Making an unpleasant reading experience, e.g. because it is dull or upsetting.
an unreadable book
- 3
Not able to be accessed or played by some technical device.
The scratched CD is unreadable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unreadable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense that cannot be deciphered:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | illisible |
| German | unleserlich, unlesbar |
| Spanish | ilegible |
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 unreadable come from?
From un- + readable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).