Intolerability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state characterized by extreme difficulty in acceptance or endurance
2. A condition where something is perceived as exceptionally difficult to manage or accept
3. The quality or condition of something that cannot be endured or accepted due to its severity or unpleasantness

Etymology: "Intolerability" is a noun built from "intolerable" plus the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. "Intolerable" in turn combines the negating prefix "in-" with "tolerable," from Latin "tolerare," meaning "to bear" or "to endure." So the word literally names the condition of being unbearable. The noun was borrowed from Latin "intolerabilitas," the same kind of formation that gave English many abstract nouns in the same period. Its core sense of something that simply cannot be borne has stayed stable, which makes it a fairly transparent word: once you see "tolerate" hiding inside it, its meaning follows directly from the parts.

Synonyms: unbearability, unacceptability, insufferability, impossibility, unendurability

Antonyms: tolerability, acceptability, bearability, feasibility, endurance