can't stand

Idioms  

1. Also,. Thoroughly dislike; be unable to put up with something or someone. For example, I can't stand the sight of her; she's obnoxious, or I can't bear to leave the country, or I can't stomach a filthy kitchen. The oldest of these synonymous expressions is can't abide, which Shakespeare used in 2 Henry IV (3:2): “She could not abide Master Shallow.” Can't stand dates from the early 1600; can't bear dates from about 1700 and often but not always is used with an infinitive; can't stomach dates from the late 1600s and today is less common than the others.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

can't stand

"They keep taking things, I can't stand it," protests the person recording with their phone.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

“I think the inability to seek federal habeas relief would also lead to more people simply giving up on viable claims for immigration relief because they can’t stand to be in detention any longer.”

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

"I can't carry petrol because what if it catches fire? If I can't stand up, I'll get badly burned," he says.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

“It doesn’t have to be: OK, you can’t touch the tree, or, we’re going to whack the tree back so much that you can’t stand to look at it,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

He told me he slept about four hours a night but later confessed, “I can’t sleep. There’s always somebody not getting treatment. I can’t stand that.”

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• abhor
• despise
• detest
• loathe
• scorn
• shun