Incomprehensible
/ˌɪnkɑːmprɪˈhɛnsəbl/
adjectiveC1
Definition
Incomprehensible describes something that you cannot understand because it is too difficult, unclear, or confusing. It can refer to language, ideas, actions, or situations that do not make sense to a person.
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See It in Action
Difficult or impossible to understand because it is unclear or too complex
- •The handwriting was so bad it was incomprehensible.
- •His explanation was incomprehensible to the students.
- •The instructions were written in an incomprehensible language.
Something that does not make sense or is confusing to the point of being meaningless
- •The noise from the machine was incomprehensible.
- •The message was incomprehensible because of the static on the radio.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "incomprehensible" like "hard to understand," but much stronger—like you try but you cannot get it at all.
- ✓Picture a very messy, tangled ball of string that you cannot separate or follow.
- ✓It's the feeling when you listen to someone speaking very fast in a language you do not know.
- ✓Sounds like "in-com-pre-HEN-si-ble" → imagine a big HEN (bird) trying to explain something, but you just can't understand what it says.
- ✓Think of a confusing puzzle with pieces that don’t fit, making no clear picture.
- ✓NOT like "confusing" (which can be mixed up but sometimes understood later), "incomprehensible" means you cannot understand it at all.
- ✓NOT like "complicated" (which means difficult but possible to understand), "incomprehensible" means almost impossible to understand.
Try Other Words
- •Unintelligible: impossible to understand because of poor sound or language (Use when talking about speech or sounds that cannot be heard or understood)
- •Confusing: difficult to understand because it is unclear or mixed up (Use when something is unclear but can be figured out with effort)
- •Indecipherable: impossible to read or understand (Use for writing, codes, or signals that cannot be understood)
- •Opaque: not clear or transparent, hard to understand (Use in formal or literary contexts about ideas or writing)
Unboxing
- •Prefix: "in-" (not) + root: "comprehensible" (able to be understood)
- •Root: "comprehend" means to understand or grasp mentally
- •Suffix: "-ible" means capable of or able to be
- •Origin: From Latin "incomprehensibilis," meaning "not able to be understood"
- •The word first appeared in English in the late 1600s, used to describe things that cannot be understood by the mind
- •Today, it is used for anything very difficult or impossible to understand, from language to ideas or situations
Reflect & Connect
•Can you think of a time when something was incomprehensible to you? How did you feel and what did you do?
•How can we make incomprehensible information easier to understand for others?
Fill in the blanks
1.The teacher’s explanation was incomprehensible ___ the students did not speak the same language.
2.When someone speaks very fast, their words can become incomprehensible ___ the listener.
3.The handwriting was so messy it was incomprehensible ___ even the writer had trouble reading it.
4.Unlike confusing instructions that can be followed slowly, incomprehensible instructions ___ no clear meaning.
5.The message on the radio was incomprehensible ___ there was too much static noise.
6.To make incomprehensible ideas clear, it helps to ___ them into smaller parts.
7.The ancient text was incomprehensible ___ no one knew the language it was written in.