illegibleadj.
/ɪˈlɛdʒᵻbl/, U.S. /ɪ(l)ˈlɛdʒəb(ə)l/, /əˈlɛdʒəb(ə)l/ a. Not legible, that cannot be read; esp. of written characters: Undecipherable.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [adjective] > bad > illegible or untidy
unlegible1451
foul?1467
scribbled1550
scribbling1592
crabbed1612
hieroglyphical1613
scrabbled1625
illegible1640
unreadable1655
scribbly1659
pot-hook1674
scrawlinga1754
undecipherable1758
scribblative1829
scrawly1833
scrawny1833
scrawled1848
hieroglyphic1856
pot-hooky1867
scriggly1896
chicken scratch1933
1615 P. Gordon First Pt. Famous Hist. Bruce Pref. sig. A2v It was old & torne almost inlegeable in manie places.]
1640 J. Howell Δενδρολογια 67 His then Secretarie..,pour'd the Ink-box all over the Writings, and so defac'd them, that they were made altogether illegible.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. ix. 54 Here several pages of the manuscript were..totally illegible.
1844 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters (ed. 2) I. Pref. p. li It is no excuse for illegible writing that there are persons who could not have read it had it been plain.
1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. v. 94 Mrs. Oldcastle's face..was illegible.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > obscurity > [adjective] > not readable
illegible1756
1756 Gentleman's Mag. 26 37/2 Let plodding Sloan his taste for authors boast, The most illegible esteem the most.
1822 Jeffrey Let. in Ld. Cockburn Life II. Let. xc Clarissa Harlowe and Sir C. Grandison owe all their attraction to their length;..an abstract of either would be illegible.
1828 Edinb. Rev. 47 203 Sir Michael Scott, again—being all magic, witchcraft, and mystery—is absolutely illegible.
Derivatives
iˈllegibly adv. in an illegible manner.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [adverb] > illegibly or untidily
scribblingly1577
scribble-scrabble1590
scribbledly1681
illegibly1818
1818 in H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang.
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. i. 2 The diligent old man..could write so illegibly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adj.1640