Standard Lemma guide

intolerable

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪnˈtɒləɹəbl̩/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N T AA1 L ER0 AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unsittable

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Extremely offensive or insulting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Extremely worn and degraded, to the point of being unsafe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: nuclear power

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

incapable of being put up with

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an intolerable degree of sentimentality

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unbearable, unendurable

Antonyms: tolerable

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: dözülməz — not tolerable
  • Belarusian: нязно́сны (njaznósny) — not tolerable
  • Belarusian: невыно́сны (njevynósny) — not tolerable
  • Belarusian: нясце́рпны (njascjérpny) — not tolerable
  • Bulgarian: нетърпим (netǎrpim) — not tolerable
  • Catalan: intolerable — not tolerable
  • Chinese Mandarin: 难以忍受的,難以忍受的 (nányǐrěnshòu de) — not tolerable
  • Esperanto: netolerebla — not tolerable
  • Finnish: sietämätön — not tolerable
  • French: intolérable — not tolerable
  • Galician: intolerable — not tolerable
  • German: unerträglich — not tolerable
  • Ancient Greek: ἀφόρητος (aphórētos) — not tolerable
  • Icelandic: óþolandi — not tolerable
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uutholdelig — not tolerable
  • Polish: nieznośny — not tolerable
  • Portuguese: intolerável — not tolerable
  • Russian: невыноси́мый (nevynosímyj) — not tolerable
  • Russian: нестерпи́мый (nesterpímyj) — not tolerable
  • Russian: несно́сный (nesnósnyj) — not tolerable
  • Spanish: intolerable — not tolerable
  • Spanish: infumable — not tolerable
  • Thai: เหลืออด (lʉ̌ʉa-òt) — not tolerable
  • Thai: เหลือทน (lʉ̌ʉa-ton) — not tolerable
  • Thai: สุดจะทน (sùt-jà-ton) — not tolerable
  • Tocharian B: ekalätte — not tolerable
  • Ukrainian: незно́сний (neznósnyj) — not tolerable
  • Ukrainian: несте́рпний (nestérpnyj) — not tolerable
  • Urdu: ناقابِلِ بَرْداشْت (nāqābil-e bardāśt) — not tolerable
  • Azerbaijani: dözülməz — extremely offensive
  • Spanish: de juzgado de guardia — extremely offensive