Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Able to be understood; clear and comprehensible: Describes something that is expressed or presented in a way that makes its meaning easily grasped.
   • Capable of being apprehended by the intellect: Refers to something that can be perceived or comprehended by the mind.

Usage

The word "intelligible" is used to describe speech, writing, ideas, or sounds that are clear enough to be understood. It often implies that the information is presented with sufficient clarity, articulation, or logical structure to be accessible to the listener or reader.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The professor's lecture was complex but ultimately intelligible.
  • After the poor phone connection cleared up, her voice became intelligible again.
  • For the theory to be useful, it must be expressed in intelligible terms.

Advanced Usage

• "Mutually intelligible": Used in linguistics to describe languages or dialects that speakers of each can understand without prior study.
  • Danish and Swedish are largely mutually intelligible languages.

Variants and Related Words

• Intelligibility (noun): The quality of being intelligible.
  • The intelligibility of the audio recording was poor due to background noise.
• Unintelligible (adjective): The opposite; not able to be understood.
  • The ancient manuscript was faded and largely unintelligible.

Synonyms

• Comprehensible
• Understandable
• Clear
• Lucid
• Coherent

Antonyms

• Unintelligible
• Incomprehensible
• Unclear
• Incoherent

Related Phrases and Concepts

• "Barely intelligible": Very difficult to understand, but some meaning can be grasped.
  • His whisper was barely intelligible from across the room.
• "Render something intelligible": To make something understandable.
  • The translator's goal is to render the text intelligible to a new audience.

Adjective

1. well articulated or enunciated, and loud enough to be heard distinctly
   • intelligible pronunciation
2. capable of being apprehended or understood