intolerable

Alternative forms

untolerable (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English intolerable, borrowed from Middle French intolerable, from Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ tolerable.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɒləɹəbl̩/
Audio (US): (file)
Hyphenation: in‧tol‧er‧able

Adjective

intolerable (comparative more intolerable, superlative most intolerable)

Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured. [from the 15th c.]
Synonyms: insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unsittable
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.
- 2019 May 28, Jack Guy and Antonia Mortensen, “Germans urged to wear Jewish skullcap ahead of anti-Israel protests”, in CNN‎:
  “I call on all citizens of Berlin and across Germany to wear the yarmulke (as the skullcap is known in Yiddish) next Saturday if there are new, intolerable attacks targeting Israel and Jews on the occasion of Al-Quds Day in Berlin,” said Felix Klein in a statement.
(nuclear power) Extremely worn and degraded, to the point of being unsafe.
- 2022 December 15, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎:
  o take apart an ageing nuclear facility, you have to put a lot of other things together first. New technologies, for instance, and new buildings to replace the intolerable ones, and new reserves of money.

Derived terms

Collocations

with nouns

intolerable cruelty
intolerable burden
intolerable situation
intolerable condition
intolerable pain
intolerable heat
intolerable position
intolerable life
intolerable state
intolerable suffering
intolerable evil
intolerable risk
intolerable insult
intolerable hardship
intolerable agony
intolerable behavior
intolerable affront
intolerable insolence
intolerable stress
intolerable consequence
intolerable people
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable
intolerable

Translations

not tolerable

Azerbaijani: dözülməz
Belarusian: нязно́сны (njaznósny), невыно́сны (njevynósny), нясце́рпны (njascjérpny)
Bulgarian: нетърпим (bg) (netǎrpim)
Catalan: intolerable (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 难以忍受的,難以忍受的 (nányǐrěnshòu de)
Esperanto: netolerebla
Finnish: sietämätön (fi)
French: intolérable (fr)
Galician: intolerable (gl)
German: unerträglich (de)
Greek:
Ancient: ἀφόρητος (aphórētos)
Icelandic: óþolandi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: uutholdelig (no)
Polish: nieznośny (pl)
Portuguese: intolerável (pt)
Russian: невыноси́мый (ru) (nevynosímyj), нестерпи́мый (ru) (nesterpímyj), несно́сный (ru) (nesnósnyj)
Spanish: intolerable (es), infumable (es)
Thai: เหลืออด (lʉ̌ʉa-òt), เหลือทน (th) (lʉ̌ʉa-ton), สุดจะทน (sùt-jà-ton)
Tocharian B: ekalätte
Ukrainian: незно́сний (neznósnyj), несте́рпний (nestérpnyj)
Urdu: ناقابِلِ بَرْداشْت (nāqābil-e bardāśt)

extremely offensive

Azerbaijani: dözülməz
Spanish: de juzgado de guardia (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked