Word
insufferable
Phoneticsin·suf·fer·able
US/ˌɪnˈsəfɝəbəɫ/
UK/ɪnsˈʌfəɹəbəl/
Definition
adj. extremely annoying or difficult to deal with. You use this to describe someone who is so rude or loud that you cannot stand them.
adj. extremely unpleasant or difficult to endure. Often describes a person's behavior or a situation that is intolerable due to arrogance or noise.
Examples
“The constant noise from the construction site is insufferable.”
“After three hours of his constant complaints, his insufferable behavior finally made the rest of the group lose their patience.”
“The protagonist's insufferable arrogance serves as a central theme, eventually leading to his downfall as the other characters refuse to support his increasingly reckless decisions.”
Examples
simple
“The constant noise from the construction site is insufferable.”
contextual
“After three hours of his constant complaints, his insufferable behavior finally made the rest of the group lose their patience.”
complex
“The protagonist's insufferable arrogance serves as a central theme, eventually leading to his downfall as the other characters refuse to support his increasingly reckless decisions.”
Real-World Examples
“She says the anxiety has been insufferable and she has permanently damaged her teeth from grinding them due to stress.” “I’d call it the midlife adultery story our entire generation deserves: a propulsive, witty takedown of insufferable hand-wringers who’ve managed to ruin even sex.” Etymology
From Late Middle English insufferable (“unbearably painful, intolerable”), and then either: * from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + sufferable, souffrable (“bearable, endurable, tolerable; allowable, permissible; able to or willing to bear hardship; forbearing, long-suffering; calm, self-restrained, slow to anger; capable of suffering”) (from Anglo-Norman sufferable, souffrable, and Old French souffrable, suffrable (“sufferable, tolerable”)); or * from Old French insouffrable (“which cannot be endured or suffered; something insufferable or unendurable”) (now dialectal), from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + souffrable, suffrable. From Old French souffrable, suffrable are derived from Medieval Latin sufferābilis, from Latin sufferre + -ābilis (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’); while sufferre is the present active infinitive of sufferō, subferō (“to bear or carry under; to bear, endure, suffer, undergo”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, under’) + ferō (“to bear, carry; to endure, suffer, tolerate”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)). The English word is analysable as in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + sufferable.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
VERB
ADJECTIVE
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated
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