unreadable

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unreadable

not interesting; not worth reading: The book was unreadable.

Not to be confused with:

illegible – impossible or hard to read: The handwriting was illegible.

un·read·a·ble

(ŭn-rē′də-bəl)

adj.

1. Not legible or decipherable; illegible: unreadable handwriting.

2. Unsuitable for or not worth reading: unreadable prose.

3. Not interesting; dull: wholly unreadable statistics.

4. Incomprehensible; opaque: an unreadable facial expression.

un·read′a·bil′i·ty n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

unreadable

(ʌnˈriːdəbəl)

adj

1. illegible; undecipherable

2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) difficult or tedious to read

unˌreadaˈbility, unˈreadableness n

unˈreadably adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

illegible, unreadable - Illegible refers to bad handwriting, while unreadable refers to poor writing.

unreadable

adjective

1. turgid, heavy going, badly written, dry as dust Most computer ads used to be unreadable.

2. illegible, undecipherable, crabbed She scribbled an unreadable address on the receipt.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

unreadable

[ˈʌnˈriːdəbl] ADJ

1. (= turgid) [book] → imposible de leer
I found the book unreadable → el libro me resultó pesadísimo

2. (= illegible) [handwriting etc] → ilegible

3. (Comput) [data] → ilegible

4. (liter) (= impenetrable) [face, eyes] → impenetrable

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

unreadable

adj

writing → unleserlich; book → schwer zu lesen pred, → schwer lesbar

(Comput) data → nicht lesbar

(liter: = impenetrable) face, eyes → undurchdringlich

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unreadable

[ʌnˈriːdəbl] adj → illeggibile

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

The first term of the problem was unreadable - lacked all suggestion but that of atrocious cruelty.

View in context

The bearded bureaucrat sat at his post, mysteriously self-possessed like an idol with dim, unreadable eyes.

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It was written in an almost unreadable script neither English nor German, and so arranged that if you were not careful you began with a toothpick and rice pudding and ended with soup and the day of the week.

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The bulk of his work consists of long moralizing poems, prosy, prolix, often trivial, and to-day largely unreadable. Same of them are in the rimed couplet and others in blank verse.

He made ferociously unqualified attacks on the statesmen of his day, and in spite of much power, the coarseness of his works renders them now almost unreadable. But he performed one definite service; in 'Roderick Random,' drawing on his early experiences as a ship's surgeon, he inaugurated the out-and-out sea story, that is the story which takes place not, like 'Robinson Crusoe,' in small part, but mainly, on board ship.

View in context

Did you ever hear of anything so stupid as this affair?" she concluded in a tone of extreme candour and a profound unreadable stare that went far beyond us both.

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Thus, when a very unobtrusive Oxford man named John Boulnois wrote in a very unreadable review called the Natural Philosophy Quarterly a series of articles on alleged weak points in Darwinian evolution, it fluttered no corner of the English papers; though Boulnois's theory

View in context

She was not so much unreadable as blank; and I did not know whether to admire her for it or dismiss her from my thoughts as a passive butt of ferocious misfortune.

View in context

Later on, the counsel for parties submitted a detailed list of reference documents which were unreadable.

Paragon Society: Khawaja brothers indictment delayed till Sept 4

When they get together, it's a saw but you can kick it in a [Text unreadable in original source.] with Vincent, Ben, real mellow.

"We never promised you shit." for your eyes only. Supreme's "BLESSED"

[Text unreadable in original source.] From all of us at Farm Collector, our very best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!