Illegable or illegible?
Did you mean illegible? Here's the right spelling and how to remember it.
Incorrect
illegable
Correct
illegible
Correct spelling: illegible. Misspelling: illegable.
letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there
Memory tip
Il + leg + ible: double L, ending in -ible.
Why people write “illegable”
The endings -ible and -able sound the same, so the ear is no help; this word takes -ible.
Spell-checkers catch the mistake in a document, but not in a handwritten note, a text message or a word game. Writing the word out a few times while saying the tricky part aloud is the quickest way to make illegible automatic.
Other misspellings of “illegible”
People also write “ilegible”. Here is where each one goes wrong.
“ilegible”
Correct spelling: illegible. Misspelling: ilegible.
letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there
The misspelling “ilegible” is only one letter off: it uses a single L where illegible has a double LL.
What does “illegible” mean?
illegible adjective
- (of handwriting, print, etc.) not legible
“illegible handwriting”
Definitions from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Full dictionary entry
“Illegible” in a sentence
- His handwriting is illegible.
- Illegible handwriting.
Is “illegible” a playable word?
12 points in Scrabble · 17 in Words With Friends
- Scrabble (US)
- Scrabble (UK)
- Words With Friends
“illegable” is not accepted in any of these games. See every word you can make from ILLEGIBLE.