English Reference
Adjective

unbearable

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ənˈbɛɹəbəɫ/ UK /ʌnbˈeəɹəbəl/ un·bear·able

adj.too bad, painful, or annoying to deal with. You use this when you feel like you cannot handle a situation any longer.

adj.too unpleasant, painful, or intense to be tolerated. Often used predicatively after linking verbs such as 'become', 'seem', or 'feel'.


SIMPLE

The heat in the room was unbearable.

CONTEXTUAL

The silence in the house became unbearable after his best friend moved away.

COMPLEX

The protagonist's grief is depicted as an unbearable weight, manifesting physically as a constant pressure in his chest that prevents him from engaging with the world.

Usage

Often modified by adverbs of degree like 'almost', 'nearly', or 'virtually'.

Pitfall
The pain was unbearingThe pain was unbearable

Learners sometimes confuse the adjective 'unbearable' with the present participle 'unbearing', which is not a standard English word for this meaning.

The other half of me was crushed by the absolute, unbearable pain that this decision comes 10 years too late for my brother, Tommy.

The Guardian· 30 Aug 2026

Image caption, Sir Keir Starmer's former chief of staff revealed how "unbearable" it was working in No 10, saying she feared she was being recorded by colleagues, the Guardian reports.

BBC News· 20 Aug 2026

From Middle English unberable, equivalent to un- + bearable.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Middle English unberable
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated