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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The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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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 guilt is obviously unbearable, it's horrific, but I just try and remind myself that I didn't know and I did what I could have done with the knowledge that I did have," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
After it progressed to an unbearable point, we moved Tony into assisted living.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
"Just imagine: having to stop right in the middle of the season like that. It's unbearable for a company like ours," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Some found it charming, some unbearable, but in the end everyone shrugged: Well, he’s the boss.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Dimple wished she were a better liar under pressure, but she knew if she lied now, with no preparation, Mamma would instantly be able to tell, and then she’d just get even more unbearable.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
