hieroglyphics

IPA/ˌhaɪərəˈɡlɪfɪks/
KK[hˌaɪroɡlˈɪfɪks]IPA/ˌhaɪərəˈɡlɪfɪks/

hieroglyphics — noun

1. A way of writing where pictures and symbols stand for words, best known from the

1.nounB2
Definition

A way of writing where pictures and symbols stand for words, best known from the monuments of ancient Egypt.

Example

Harper spent hours copying the hieroglyphics from the temple wall into her notebook.

The museum guide explained that Egyptian hieroglyphics mix sound signs with picture signs.

describing how hieroglyphics work: mixing sound and picture signs

Common collocations
  • Egyptian hieroglyphics
  • carved hieroglyphics
  • painted hieroglyphics
  • decipher hieroglyphics
  • translate hieroglyphics
Synonyms
  • hieroglyphs

    refers to the individual picture-characters rather than the writing system as a whole

  • pictograms

    a broader term for any picture-based writing, not limited to ancient Egypt

Grammar Patterns

hieroglyphics + singular verb (the writing system)

hieroglyphics + plural verb (the individual symbols)

Usage Note

Almost always refers to the ancient Egyptian writing system, though other cultures such as the Maya also developed picture-based scripts.

Common Mistakes

I saw a beautiful hieroglyphics on the tomb wall.
I saw a beautiful hieroglyph on the tomb wall.
'hieroglyphics' (with -s) is the writing system or a group of symbols; use 'hieroglyph' for a single picture-character.

2. Handwriting or printed text that is so messy or unclear that nobody can read it,

2.nounB2
Definition

Handwriting or printed text that is so messy or unclear that nobody can read it, as if it were written in a secret code.

Example

Astrid looked at the doctor's prescription and saw nothing but hieroglyphics.

figurative use: nothing but hieroglyphics

Tara's handwriting is so messy that her notes look like hieroglyphics to everyone else.

Common collocations
  • look like hieroglyphics
  • read like hieroglyphics
  • nothing but hieroglyphics
Synonyms
  • scrawl

    specifically refers to hurried, messy handwriting rather than anything indecipherable

  • chicken scratch

    very informal; only used for bad handwriting, not for printed text or symbols

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

look like + hieroglyphics

read like + hieroglyphics

nothing but + hieroglyphics

Usage Note

Used figuratively. The subject is typically messy handwriting, faded print, or any system of marks the speaker cannot make sense of.

Common Mistakes

His handwriting is hieroglyphic.
His handwriting is hieroglyphics.
'hieroglyphic' is the adjective form; use 'hieroglyphics' as the noun for illegible writing.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hieroglyphics refers specifically to the ancient Egyptian picture-writing system and its individual symbols. Hieroglyphs is a near-synonym but leans towards meaning the individual carved characters rather than the system as a whole — you would say 'the walls were covered in hieroglyphs' but 'she studied hieroglyphics at university.' Pictograms is broader: any writing that uses pictures to represent meaning, from modern airport signs to ancient Chinese oracle bones. Cuneiform is a different ancient writing system entirely, using wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay, developed in Mesopotamia — it is not picture-based and should not be confused with hieroglyphics. Ideograms are symbols that stand for ideas rather than sounds; some hieroglyphics are ideograms, but not all ideograms are hieroglyphics. For example, a red circle with a line through it is an ideogram but certainly not a hieroglyph.

hieroglyphs ↗pictogramscuneiform ↗ideograms ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • in hieroglyphics
  • written in hieroglyphics

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

From Greek hieroglyphikos, combining hieros ('sacred') and glyphein ('to carve'). The ancient Greeks gave this name to the writing they saw carved into the stone walls of Egyptian temples and tombs. The word travelled through Latin and French before reaching English in the late 1500s. The figurative sense — meaning any illegible scrawl — appeared later, likening messy handwriting to the mysterious, unreadable look of Egyptian carvings.

First known use

1586

1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1