intolerance
Americannoun
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lack of tolerance; unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect opinions or beliefs contrary to one's own.
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unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect persons of a different social group, especially members of a minority group.
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incapacity or indisposition to bear or endure.
intolerance to heat.
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abnormal sensitivity or allergy to a food, drug, etc.
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an intolerant act.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of intolerance
From the Latin word intolerantia, dating back to 1755–65. See intolerant, -ance
Explanation
Intolerance — or an unwillingness to accept the beliefs or behavior of someone different from you — is not a quality you want to have. Intolerance is what leads to hate crimes and discrimination. The word intolerance comes from a combination of the Latin in- meaning “not” and tolerantem meaning "to bear, endure.” Intolerance is not being able to bear or endure beliefs that are different from your own. You may commonly hear of it used with respect to religious intolerance, which is an unwillingness to accept different religious beliefs.
Vocabulary lists containing intolerance
Vocabulary from news articles about rescued teenage sailor
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Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801)
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A Good Kind of Trouble
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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.
See Examples For:
First minister John Swinney said Friday's events should be a "wake-up call" to Scotland over intolerance towards others.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Gilead is not paradise; it is not immune from fear or intolerance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
For years before she landed at CBS News in October, Weiss built a career criticizing ideological conformity and supposed institutional intolerance.
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2026
A Brazilian study published in Nutrients found that omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil reduced glucose intolerance and weakened insulin resistance in rats that were not obese but showed a diabetes-like metabolic condition.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026
The Freedom Riders fought intolerance by riding a bus and pushing racial limits in the deep South.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
This discovery may also help explain a range of digestive issues, including food intolerances and irritable bowel syndrome.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2026
Disruptions in this newly identified signaling pathway may play a role in conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, food intolerances, and chronic visceral pain.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2026
The various infections, electrolyte imbalances and medication intolerances weakened her to the point of collapse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Fortified cereals provide essential micronutrients, plant-based milks cater to those with dairy intolerances and some packaged breads offer whole grains that many people wouldn’t otherwise consume.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2025
But intolerances go out of style as suddenly as new creeds come in.
From The Cup of Fury A Novel of Cities and Shipyards by Raleigh, Henry
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.
