unbearable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unbearable
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at un- 1, bearable
Explanation
When something's unbearable, you just can't take it. Your neighbor's loud music was always annoying, but when the walls shook until your favorite vase fell and broke you knew it had become unbearable. If you look at the adjective unbearable and strip away the prefix un- and the suffix -able, you have the word bear, meaning "to endure." Now put back those add-ons and you end up with a word that means "not able to endure." In other words, you can't stand it. You thought that your job as a police officer was tough until you volunteered to umpire a little league ballgame — the pressure was unbearable!
Vocabulary lists containing unbearable
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 12–15
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The Cay
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And Then There Were None
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The films she had worked on included “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “Henry & June,” “Amadeus,” “The Right Stuff,” “Backdraft” and “Blue Velvet.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026
That’s been delightfully apparent in recent movies like “Mandy,” “Pig” and “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a meta-meditation on the agony and ecstasy of being Nicolas Cage.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2023
Hahn, a faculty member of Queens College in New York City whose books include “The Unbearable Heart” and “Earshot,” won the $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2023
The author Milan Kundera, best known for his novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” which was adapted into a film, died on Tuesday at 94.
From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2023
Unbearable burdens that the world somehow does bear with a certain grace.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
