intolerable
adjectiveattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ɪnˈtɒləɹəbl̩//
- United States//ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩//
Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured.
adjective
- 1
Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured.
- 2
Extremely offensive or insulting.
It is an intolerable sound that sets spoons tinkling in saucers and windowpanes vibrating.
“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.
- 3
Extremely worn and degraded, to the point of being unsafe.
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.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English intolerable, borrowed from Middle French intolerable, from Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- + tolerable.
Forms
- comparative
- more intolerable
- superlative
- most intolerable
intolerable · Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured.
intoxicated · Stupefied by alcohol, drunk.intoxicating · Able to intoxicate; an intoxicant.intoxication · A poisoning, as by a spirituous or a narcotic substance.