legible

adjective

leg·​i·​ble ˈle-jə-bəl 

1

: capable of being read or deciphered : plain

legible handwriting

2

: capable of being discovered or understood

murder sweltered in his heart and was legible upon his face

—Thomas Wolfe

legibility

ˌle-jə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

legibly

ˈle-jə-blē 

adverb

Synonyms

• accessible
• apprehensible
• coherent
• comprehendible
• comprehensible
• fathomable
• graspable
• intelligible
• scrutable
• understandable

Examples of legible in a Sentence

The document is not legible.

an anxious mood that was clearly legible upon her face

Recent Examples on the Web

Hanna Posch, the Good Council’s head moderator, who previously worked with the climate assembly in Vienna, told me that a legible process was necessary given the range of experience that the participants brought to the council. —Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024

But now, newer AI programs are better at understanding what customers need, searching for the right information, and displaying it in a legible way. —Chris Morris, Fortune Asia, 9 Aug. 2024

The high degree of difficulty required to make these emotions legible largely through physical expression cannot be overstated. —Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2024

Another solution is to use the jumping hour plus retrograde minute scale combination, a potentially more legible solution since the hands on rotating disks tend to take the form of short arrowheads, which can sometimes be hard to read. —Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 8 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin legibilis, from Latin legere to read

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

legible

adjective

leg·​i·​ble ˈlej-ə-bəl 

: capable of being read : plain

legible handwriting

legibility

ˌlej-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

legibly

ˈlej-ə-blē 

adverb