Intelligible
adj.thoughtful, capableprofessional
What it means
Able to be understood.
Reach for it when praising communication that its intended audience can make sense of
The revised diagram made the drainage sequence intelligible to non-specialists.
Choose between these
6- everyday
little effort is needed to follow the message
not when Clear also describes visibility or certainty, so context must carry the comprehension sense.
- everyday
plain accessibility to the audience is the point
not when Understandable can also mean emotionally excusable.
- warm
direct familiar language avoids needless complexity
not when Plainspoken describes tone and does not guarantee conceptual clarity.
- professional
parts connect into a consistent whole
not when A coherent argument can use language the audience cannot understand.
- formal
the material falls within the audience's ability to grasp
not when Comprehensible may still be laborious and less readable than clear.
- literary
expression is elegantly clear and well ordered
not when Lucid praises style beyond basic intelligibility.
Said against
3- unintelligible
- incomprehensible
- garbled
It naturally appears in
3- readily intelligible
The symbols are readily intelligible once the three categories are named.
- intelligible explanation
An intelligible explanation replaced three pages of undefined abbreviations.
- make intelligible
The timeline helps make intelligible a dispute that lasted twenty years.
Where this comes from
- Merriam-Webster, adjective sense 1: capable of being understood opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.