leg·i·ble
ˈle-jə-bəl 
1
: capable of being read or deciphered : plain
legible handwriting
2
: capable of being discovered or understood
… murder sweltered in his heart and was legible upon his face.—
Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe
leg·i·bil·i·ty
ˌlejəˈbilətē
-ətē,
-i
plural -es
: the quality or state of being legible
the influence of typeface on the legibility of print—Helen A. Webster & M. A. Tinker
Helen A. Webster & M. A. TinkerExamples of legible in a Sentence
Adjective
The document is not legible.
an anxious mood that was clearly legible upon her face
Recent Examples on the Web
Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 18 June 2026
The hard part is building systems that make those signals legible to the people who have to act on them — who have to order more stock, shift production, or reposition inventory based on what the model says, knowing that the model is not infallible and that the cost of being wrong is real.
—Karen Koehler, Charlotte Observer, 17 June 2026
Sarnoski shoots everything with overwhelming but legible intensity, neither shying away from the violence nor making an effort to glorify it, and Jackman is similarly stoic in his performance.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026
The path that worked for people ten years older is no longer legible.
—Lisa Curtis, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for legible
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
Unlike the original Declaration of Independence, which is so faded today that John Hancock’s iconic signature is barely legible, the engraving on display in Miami is what the document actually looked like at the time it was signed.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 18 June 2026
The hard part is building systems that make those signals legible to the people who have to act on them — who have to order more stock, shift production, or reposition inventory based on what the model says, knowing that the model is not infallible and that the cost of being wrong is real.
—Karen Koehler, Charlotte Observer, 17 June 2026
Sarnoski shoots everything with overwhelming but legible intensity, neither shying away from the violence nor making an effort to glorify it, and Jackman is similarly stoic in his performance.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026
The path that worked for people ten years older is no longer legible.
—Lisa Curtis, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for legible
Cite this Entry
“Legible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legible. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
