Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'Something that is impossible to be read'.

Correct — A. Illegible means not clear enough to be read, as with bad handwriting or faded print.

It is il- (not) plus legible, and legible goes back to the Latin legere, to read. The prefix in- becomes il- before an l, as in illegal and illogical.

So 'impossible to be read' is exactly il-legible → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Decipherable — Decipherable means able to be worked out or read, the positive rather than the negative. Its opposite, indecipherable, would be a near synonym of illegible.
• (c)
  Invisible — Invisible means impossible to see, from the Latin videre, to see. Writing can be perfectly visible and still illegible, so the two are not interchangeable.
• (d)
  Unutterable — Unutterable means too great or intense to be expressed in words, as in unutterable grief. It concerns speaking, not reading.

Solve this one by matching root and prefix to the definition, which has two parts: 'impossible' and 'read'.

A negating prefix covers the first part and the Latin root leg-, to read, covers the second. Illegible carries both.

Invisible and unutterable carry the negation but the wrong idea, seeing and speaking. Decipherable is about reading but carries no negation.

Key facts

• Illegible means not clear enough to be read, and is said of handwriting or print.
• Legible comes from the Latin legere, to read.
• The prefix in- becomes il- before l, as in illegal and illogical.
• Illiterate describes a person who cannot read, not the writing.

Common traps

• Confusing illegible with ineligible, which means not qualified or not allowed.
• Choosing invisible because 'impossible to be read' feels like 'cannot be seen'. Messy handwriting is fully visible.

No directly related past PYQ was found.