Word.ws English Dictionary

intolerant

Syllables: in·tol·er·antUK/ɪnˈtɒləɹənt//ɪnˈtɑləɹənt/

intolerant adjective: unable or indisposed to tolerate, endure or bear.

Adjective

intolerant (comparative more intolerant, superlative most intolerant)

  1. Unable or indisposed to tolerate, endure or bear.
  2. (often, postpositional) Unable to digest food or be given substances of a certain composition without adverse effects.
    • Near-synonym: allergic
    • I am intolerant of lactose, so I can't drink milk
    Synonyms:
    allergic
  3. Not tolerant; close-minded about new or different ideas; indisposed to tolerate contrary opinions or beliefs; impatient of dissent or opposition; denying or refusing the right of private opinion or choice in others; inclined to persecute or suppress dissent.
    • Whilſt Congregationaliſts in England were complaining of the intolerant ſpirit of Epiſcopalians there1769, A collection of original papers relative to the History of the colony of Maſſachusets-bay, Boston, New England: Thomas and John Fleet, page 399
    • They ſhewed their intolerant ſpirit by demanding a ſtrict execution of the penal laws againſt Catholics1778, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh, page 1406
    Synonyms:
    bigoted

Noun

intolerant (plural intolerants)

  1. One who is intolerant; a bigot.
    • […] a portion of the prejudice which darkened the spirits of these intolerants, might perhaps have cast its shadow over him.1856, John David Chambers, Strictures, legal and historical, on the judgment of the Consistory Court of London, in December, 1855, in the Case of Westerton Versus Liddell

intolerant meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

intolerant in Hindi

unable or indisposed to tolerate, endure or bear
असहनशील ashanśīl
not tolerant; close-minded about new or different ideas
असहिष्णु ashiṣṇu

intolerant in Tamil

சகிப்புத்தன்மையற்றவர், சகிப்புத்தன்மை இல்லாதவர்

intolerant in Marathi

असहिष्णु, असहिष्णू

intolerant in Urdu

کٹر, متعصب, تنگ خیال
More languagesFewer languages
intolerant in Bengali
অসহিষ্ণু, সংকীর্ণমনা
intolerant in Malayalam
സഹിഷ്ണുതയില്ലാത്ത, അസഹിഷ്ണുവായ, അക്ഷമ, ക്ഷമിക്കാത്ത
intolerant in Kannada
ಅಸಹಿಷ್ಣು
intolerant in Punjabi
ਅਸਹਿਣਸ਼ੀਲ
intolerant in Gujarati
અસહિષ્ણુ, અસહનશીલ
intolerant in Odia
ଅସହିଷ୍ଣୁ, ଅସହନଶୀଳ
intolerant in Nepali
असहिष्णु, असहनशील
intolerant in Indonesian
intoleran

Examples of intolerant in a sentence

  • I am lactose-intolerant, so I can't drink milk.
  • When our bodies no longer create the enzyme needed to break down lactose, we can become intolerant to it.2013, Sarah Taylor, Vegetarian to Vegan: Give Up Dairy, Give Up Eggs for Good:
  • The oak, as is well known, is a slow-growing, dicotyledonous tree of peculiar spreading habit, and very intolerant of shade.1892, Harry Marshall Ward, The Oak: A Popular Introduction to Forest-botany:
  • The powers of human bodies being limited and intolerant of excesses.1751, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies:

All 19 example sentences with intolerant

Synonyms of intolerant

Forms of intolerant

Adjective
comparativemore intolerant
superlativemost intolerant
Noun
pluralintolerants

Origin of intolerant

First attested in the first half of the 18th century; either borrowed from French intolérant (early 17th century) or from its source, Latin intolerāns. By surface analysis, in- + tolerant (itself only attested from the 1780s).

Words formed from intolerant

Questions about intolerant

What does intolerant mean?
Intolerant means unable or indisposed to tolerate, endure or bear.
What is intolerant in Hindi?
Intolerant in Hindi is असहनशील (ashanśīl), असहिष्णु (ashiṣṇu). See Intolerant meaning in Hindi.
How do you use intolerant in a sentence?
I am lactose-intolerant, so I can't drink milk.
What part of speech is intolerant?
Intolerant can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce intolerant?
Intolerant is pronounced /ɪnˈtɑləɹənt/ (US).

Words near intolerant in the dictionary

  1. intolerably
  2. intolerance
  3. intolerances
  4. intolerancies
  5. intolerancy
  6. intolerant
  7. intolerantly
  8. intolerantness
  9. intolerants
  10. intolerated
  11. intolerating

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: intolerant (page history and authors); intolerant (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); intolerant (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); intolerant (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Intolerant (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); intolerant (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); intolerant (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); intolerant (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); intolerant (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); intolerant (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); intolerant (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-intolerant.ogg.

Cite this entry: “intolerant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/intolerant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.