intolerable

English

Etymology

in- +‎ tolerable

Adjective

intolerable (comparative more intolerable, superlative most intolerable)

1. Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured; not proper or right to be allowed; insufferable; insupportable; unbearable.
2. Extremely offensive or insulting.
   • 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 4

     It is an intolerable sound that sets spoons tinkling in saucers and windowpanes vibrating.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "intolerable" is often applied: cruelty, burden, situation, condition, pain, heat, position, life, state, suffering, evil, risk, insult, hardship, agony, behavior, affront, insolence, stress, consequence, people.

Derived terms

• intolerability
• intolerableness
• intolerably

Translations

not tolerable

Catalan: intolerable (ca) Esperanto: netolerebla (eo) French: intolérable (fr)

Portuguese: intolerável (pt) Russian: невыносимый (ru) (nevynosímyj) Spanish: intolerable (es)

extremely offensive

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Translations to be checked

Romanian: intolerabil m. and n., netolerabil m. and n.

References

• intolerable in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• intolerable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913