intolerable

See also: intolérable

English

Alternative forms

• untolerable (obsolete)

Etymology

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)

1. Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured.

   Synonyms: insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unsittable

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.

3. (nuclear power) Extremely worn and degraded, to the point of being unsafe.
   • December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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

• intolerability
• intolerableness
• intolerably

 

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

• Romanian: intolerabil (ro) m or n, netolerabil m or n

References

• “intolerable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “intolerable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ tolerable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [in.tu.ləˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [in.to.ləˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.to.leˈɾa.ble]

Adjective

intolerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural intolerables)

1. intolerable

   Synonym: insuportable

   Antonym: tolerable

Derived terms

• intolerablement

Related terms

• intolerabilitat

Further reading

• “intolerable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “intolerable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “intolerable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “intolerable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ tolerable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /intoleˈɾable/ [ĩn̪.t̪o.leˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧to‧le‧ra‧ble

Adjective

intolerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural intolerables)

1. intolerable

   Synonym: insoportable

   Antonym: tolerable

Derived terms

• intolerabilidad
• intolerablemente

 

Further reading

• “intolerable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28