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Unreadable vs. Illegible
Unreadable
/ʌnˈriːdəbəl/Examples:
The ancient script appeared unreadable to even experts.Her handwriting was so poor, it seemed unreadable.Without glasses, the fine print was completely unreadable.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Illegible
/ɪˈledʒəbəl/Examples:
The memo was nearly illegible due to poor handwriting.Rain smudged the ink, rendering the letter illegible.His scrawl made the final draft hopelessly illegible.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Unreadable focuses more on the content being not engaging or interesting, making it difficult to read.
- Illegible specifically refers to the handwriting or text that cannot be deciphered due to poor quality, not the content itself.
- Remember illegible with legible as its opposite, meaning something readable.
- Unreadable can relate to text that is either too difficult to understand or badly formatted, not just badly written.
- Think of illegible as a visual problem, while unreadable can be both visual and content-related.
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