intolerable
Americanadjective
-
not tolerable; unendurable; insufferable.
intolerable pain.
- Synonyms:
- insupportable, unbearable
- Antonyms:
- endurable
adjective
-
more than can be tolerated or endured; insufferable
-
informal extremely irritating or annoying
Other Word Forms
- intolerability noun
- intolerableness noun
- intolerably adverb
- quasi-intolerable adjective
- quasi-intolerably adverb
- superintolerable adjective
- superintolerableness noun
- superintolerably adverb
Etymology
Origin of intolerable
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Latin word intolerābilis. See in- 3, tolerable
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.
In 2024, Mr Cottrell said he had been faced with a "horrible and intolerable situation" regarding David Tudor, that he "lived with every day".
From BBC
What had already seemed intolerable now feels, to many in Minnesota's largest city, unrecognizable.
From Barron's
"Making many people anxious and fearful so as to send electricity to Tokyo...is intolerable."
From Barron's
He called on both sides to "cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters".
From Barron's
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that it was "intolerable" that the revision books for the French school leavers' exam, the baccalaureat, "falsify the facts" about the "terrorist and antisemitic attacks by Hamas".
From Barron's
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.
