intolerable

UK/ɪnˈtɒləɹəbl̩/US/ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩/

adjectiveB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,249 of 15,258neutral

Intolerable means too bad to be put up with. An intolerable delay, intolerable pain, the situation is intolerable.

It is a judgement rather than a measurement: calling something intolerable says it must stop rather than that it cannot be endured, and people endure intolerable things constantly. It is stronger than unacceptable and less formal than insupportable.

Definitions of intolerable

1adjectiveintolerableToo bad to be put up with.B2+
“The noise from the building site next door became intolerable.”

intolerable is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin intolerabilis, in-, not, plus tolerare, to bear.

Latin
intolerābilis
Middle French
intolerable
Middle English
intolerable
English, today
intolerable

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

intolerable in the wild

In essence, although the employee resigns, the resignation is not truly voluntary but rather a response to intolerable working conditions imposed by the employer.
Constructive dismissal
Claims can arise from a single serious incident or a pattern of behaviour, and employees typically need to resign shortly after the intolerable conditions are imposed.
Constructive dismissal
Chapter 11 The River Rises DURING this big rise these small-fry craft were an intolerable nuisance.
Life on the Mississippi· Mark Twain

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

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