read-only

adjective

Unalterable, capable of being read but not written.

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Meanings

adjectiveread-only (not comparable)
  1. not comparablecomputingUnalterable, capable of being read but not written.

    If they want read-only access for political purposes — fine. But don’t give them write access.”

    2025 February 18, Jeanne Sahadi, “DOGE’s request for IRS data systems access may pose risks to tax filers”, in CNN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
unwritable

Origin

From read + only.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 只讀 /只读
  • 只讀 /只读 (zhǐdú)capable of being read but not written
Dutch alleen-lezen
  • alleen-lezencapable of being read but not written
Finnish kirjoitussuojattu
  • kirjoitussuojattucapable of being read but not written
French en lecture seule
  • en lecture seulecapable of being read but not written
German schreibgeschützt
  • schreibgeschütztcapable of being read but not written
Icelandic les-, ritvarinn
  • les-capable of being read but not written
  • ritvarinncapable of being read but not written
  • skrifvarinncapable of being read but not written
Japanese 読み込み専用, 読み出し専用
  • 読み込み専用 (yomikomi-sen'yō)capable of being read but not written
  • 読み出し専用 (yomidashi-sen'yō)capable of being read but not written
  • 読み取り専用 (yomitori-sen'yō)capable of being read but not written
Spanish de solo lectura
  • de solo lecturacapable of being read but not written
Swedish skrivskyddad, skrivskyddat
  • skrivskyddadcapable of being read but not written
  • skrivskyddatcapable of being read but not written
Turkish salt okunur, yalnız okunur
  • salt okunurcapable of being read but not written
  • yalnız okunurcapable of being read but not written
Vietnamese chỉ-đọc, chỉ đọc
  • chỉ-đọccapable of being read but not written
  • chỉ đọccapable of being read but not written
Cite this entry
APA

read-only. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/read-only

MLA

“read-only.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/read-only. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “read-only,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/read-only.

Source: read-only on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.