VocabauraVOCABAURA

readable

adjective

Simple meaning

Legible, possible to read or at least decipher.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

reeduhbuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹidəbəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. of handwritingprintetc

    Legible, possible to read or at least decipher.

  2. of a book

    Enjoyable to read, of an acceptable stylistic quality or at least functionally composed.

  3. Which can be read—i.e. accessed or played—by a certain technical type of device.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (of handwriting, print, etc) Legible, possible to read or at least decipher.

Used this way, readable is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • decipherable , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “readable”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

readable formhighly readablereadable bookeasily readablereadable accountreadable dataeminently readablereadable text

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • readernounPerson or profession

    A person who enjoys reading.

  • readyadjectiveDerived adjective

    Completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress.

  • readilyadverbDerived adverb

    Without much difficulty.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • computer readableadjectiveCompound term

    Suitable for feeding directly into a computer.

  • machine-readable textnounCompound term

    Electronic text that is stored as strings of characters and that can be displayed in a variety of formats.

  • machine readableadjectiveCompound term

    Suitable for feeding directly into a computer.

  • machine readable dictionarynounCompound term

    A machine-readable version of a standard dictionary.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • readoutnounRelated term

    The output of a computer in readable form.

  • read-outnounRelated term

    The output of a computer in readable form.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: legible or possible to read or at least decipher

legibledecipherableRare

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Collections with this word

Themed sets you can browse for free.

Use it yourself

Knowing “readable” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.