Both Uses of
audible
in
1984, by Orwell
- The voice from the other table quacked rapidly on, easily audible in spite of the surrounding din.†
p. 54.7audible = capable of being heard
- Winston sighed inaudibly.†
p. 67.5 *inaudibly = so quietly it almost couldn't be heardstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in inaudibly means not and reverses the meaning of audibly. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(audible as in: barely audible) capable of being heard
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In football, the term has come to include an instruction shouted from the line of scrimmage.
Recently, the word is also being used to indicate sounds that could be played on a phone or computer; for example "audibles include creative hellos that can be downloaded."