unintelligibility
State of being unclear
Unintelligibility is the quality of being impossible or very difficult to understand.
Speech may have unintelligibility due to mumbling, a heavy accent, or technical jargon unfamiliar to the listener.
The unintelligibility of the instructions left everyone confused.
The term applies equally to written text, spoken language, or abstract concepts that resist comprehension.
Unintelligible speech or writing
- babbleIncoherent speech
- garbledConfused and unintelligible
- mumblingIndistinct, quiet speech
- slurringIndistinct, blurred speech
inarticulate · incoherent · stammering · muttering · indistinct · muffled · rambling · blathering
Specialized professional vocabulary
- gobbledygookPretentious unintelligible language
- legaleseAttorneys' technical jargon
- technobabbleFake scientific-sounding nonsense
- bureaucrateseWordy governmental language
doublespeak · argot · cant · patois · pidgin · foreign · untranslatable · dialect
Cannot be read
- indecipherableImpossible to understand
- scrawlCareless, illegible writing
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
- crypticObscure in meaning
encoded · ciphertext · undecipherable · unreadable · smudged · faded · cursive · shorthand
Difficult to comprehend
- esotericAccessible to few
- arcaneUnderstood by few
- reconditeObscure and specialized
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
opaque · dense · convoluted · labyrinthine · inscrutable · unfathomable · obtuse · profound
State of being baffled
- perplexityMental state of confusion
- befuddlementState of utter confusion
- bafflementMental state of confusion
- mystificationDeliberate creation of confusion
incomprehension · puzzlement · disorientation · muddle · fog · haze · lost · dumbfounded
Without motion or change
- interferenceUnwelcome involvement in affairs
- distortionTwisting from original state
- cacophonyHarsh, clashing sounds
- feedbackReturned response data
garbling · crosstalk · muffling · crackling · hiss · fuzz · scrambled · overmodulation
gibberish
Unintelligible speech or writing
slurring · inarticulate · incoherent · stammering · muttering · indistinct · muffled · rambling · blathering · sputtering
jargon
Specialized professional vocabulary
- gobbledygookPretentious unintelligible language
- legaleseAttorneys' technical jargon
- technobabbleFake scientific-sounding nonsense
bureaucratese · doublespeak · argot · cant · patois · pidgin · foreign · untranslatable · dialect · terminology
illegible
Cannot be read
- indecipherableImpossible to understand
- scrawlCareless, illegible writing
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
cryptic · encoded · ciphertext · undecipherable · unreadable · smudged · faded · cursive · shorthand · runic
abstruse
Difficult to comprehend
impenetrable · opaque · dense · convoluted · labyrinthine · inscrutable · unfathomable · obtuse · profound · technical
bewilderment
State of being baffled
- perplexityMental state of confusion
- befuddlementState of utter confusion
- bafflementMental state of confusion
mystification · incomprehension · puzzlement · disorientation · muddle · fog · haze · lost · dumbfounded · nonplussed
static
Without motion or change
- interferenceUnwelcome involvement in affairs
- distortionTwisting from original state
- cacophonyHarsh, clashing sounds
feedback · garbling · crosstalk · muffling · crackling · hiss · fuzz · scrambled · overmodulation
- speech problemsstuttering, stammering, slurring, mumbling, slurred words
- unclearnessvagueness, ambiguity, obscurity, haziness, fuzziness
unintelligibilityintelligibility
Quality of being understood
comprehensibility · understandability · readability · clarity · accessibility
unintelligibilitylucidity
Clearness of mind
clarity · coherence · transparency · pellucidity · limpidity
intelligent, intelligence, unintelligent, intelligible, intelligently, unintelligible, intelligibility, intelligentsia, unintelligibly