Meaning & use
unbearable
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
So painful, hot, noisy or distressing that you can hardly stand it.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: the heat was unbearable.
Patterns
- unbearable for someone
- become unbearable
The pain in his back became unbearable after an hour.
The summer heat in the city was almost unbearable.
Waiting for the exam results was unbearable.
adjectivecomparableinformal
Extremely irritating or unpleasant to deal with, said of a person or behavior.
Grammar: Informal use often exaggerates: he is unbearable when he loses.
Patterns
- unbearable to live with
- unbearable to be around
My brother is unbearable whenever his team wins.
Her constant complaining made the trip unbearable for everyone.
He was unbearable to work with during the deadline.
Word forms
| comparative | more unbearable |
|---|---|
| superlative | most unbearable |
Common combinations
- almost unbearable
- The noise from the building site was almost unbearable.
- become unbearable
- The silence between them became unbearable.
- unbearable pain
- She lived with unbearable pain for months.
- unbearable heat
- We hid indoors from the unbearable heat.
- make life unbearable
- The loud neighbors made life unbearable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intolerable
- Intolerable is more formal and often says that a situation should not be accepted at all.
- unendurable
- Unendurable is rarer and stresses that something cannot be survived over time.
- insufferable
- Insufferable is mostly used for annoying people or their manners rather than pain.
- excruciating
- Excruciating describes extreme physical pain, and is stronger and narrower than unbearable.
Opposites
Word family
- bear verb
- to put up with something
- unbearably adverb
- to an extreme degree
- bearable adjective
- possible to endure
- bearer noun
- someone who carries something
Commonly confused: unbearable or unbearably?
unbearable vs unbearably
Unbearably is the adverb and modifies adjectives, as in unbearably hot, while unbearable describes a noun.
Practice
The room was so hot and crowded that staying there became ___.
Choose one answer.
After became you need an adjective, and the meaning is that the heat could not be endured. Bearable means the opposite, and unbearably is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unbearable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.