undecipherable
Impossible to read
Undecipherable describes something that cannot be decoded, read, or understood.
Handwriting may be undecipherable, as may encrypted messages or ancient scripts: The doctor's notes were completely undecipherable.
The word applies to anything too obscure, damaged, or complex to interpret: His motives remained undecipherable.
Impossible to understand
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- opaqueImpassable to light
- abstruseDifficult to comprehend
baffling · bewildering · perplexing · confounding · inscrutable · gibberish · gobbledygook · jargon
Cannot be deciphered
- scrawlCareless, illegible writing
- scribbleWrite without care
- blurredIndistinct, lacking clarity
- smudgedBlurred by contact
faint · messy · handwriting · graffiti · spidery · squiggles · inkblot · smear
Puzzling and obscure
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- crypticObscure in meaning
- esotericAccessible to few
- arcaneUnderstood by few
occult · sphinxlike · mystical · veiled · hidden · oracular · prophetic · sibylline
Symbolic communication system
- cryptographyScience of secure messaging
- encryptionConverting data into code
- encodedConverted to cipher
- scrambledMixed into disorder
cryptogram · ciphertext · secret writing · steganography · codebook · substitution · transposition
Lacking cross-lingual equivalent
- dead languageTongue no longer spoken natively
- lost languageSpeech with no native speakers
- EtruscanAncient central Italian people
- MinoanAncient Cretan civilization
undecoded · logographic · syllabary · glyphs · pictographs · ideograms · cuneiform · demotic
unintelligible
Impossible to understand
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- opaqueImpassable to light
abstruse · baffling · bewildering · perplexing · confounding · inscrutable · gibberish · gobbledygook · jargon · technobabble
unreadable
Cannot be deciphered
smudged · faint · messy · handwriting · graffiti · spidery · squiggles · inkblot · smear · blotch
enigmatic
Puzzling and obscure
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- crypticObscure in meaning
- esotericAccessible to few
arcane · occult · sphinxlike · mystical · veiled · hidden · oracular · prophetic · sibylline · gnomic
code
Symbolic communication system
- cryptographyScience of secure messaging
- encryptionConverting data into code
- encodedConverted to cipher
scrambled · cryptogram · ciphertext · secret writing · steganography · codebook · substitution · transposition
untranslatable
Lacking cross-lingual equivalent
- dead languageTongue no longer spoken natively
- lost languageSpeech with no native speakers
- EtruscanAncient central Italian people
Minoan · undecoded · logographic · syllabary · glyphs · pictographs · ideograms · cuneiform · demotic
undecipherablelegible
Able to be read
readable · decipherable · clear · clean · neat
undecipherabledecipherable
Able to be decoded
intelligible · comprehensible · interpretable · understandable · clear
cipher, decipher, ciphers, deciphers, deciphering, decipherment, ciphering, decipherable, cypher