unˈsufferable, a. and adv. Now rare or Obs.
[un-1 7 b, 11 b, 5 b.]
1. Incapable of being suffered with patience or equanimity; not to be tolerated or endured; going beyond all natural limits: a. Of injuries, wrongs, etc.
| a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 fol. 31 b, We undoinde so muche unsufferable luere of oure poeple..stabblissez ant ordeinez [etc.]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 367/2 On-sufferabyl, or ontollerable, intollerabilis, insufferabilis. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. xvii. 395 Ellis vnsufferable myscheuys of hasty domes wolde ofte falle. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. xviii. (S.T.S.) I. 100 Þe haterent and vnsufferabil tyrannye of kingis. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxx. §3 We know no reason wherefore any man should yet imagine it an vnsufferable euill. 1621 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) I. 301 To call them to accompt..for these unsufferable wrongs. 1660 Jer. Taylor Ductor i. ii. rule 8 §30 The injustice may be frequent and unsufferable. 1725 Pope Odyssey ii. 69 Unsufferable wrong Cries to the Gods, and vengeance sleeps too long. 1763 Ld. Halifax in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 361 The Outrages..are most abominable and unsufferable. |
b. Of actions, conduct, qualities, etc.
| 1548 Geste Pr. Masse D ij, What an vnsufferable mockedge is this..of God. 1582–3 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 541 A power strange and unsufferabill to be in the persoun of ony inferior subject. 1608 Machin Dumb Knt. v. I 3, Thine adulterat..lust, Shamefull and grosse and most vnsufferable. 1651 Biggs New Disp. ¶250 Unsufferable fallacies..are couched under these four. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 38 ¶10 The unsufferable Affectation you are guilty of in all you say and do. 1720 Swift Let. to Yng. Clergyman Wks. 1755 II. ii. 12 The common unsufferable cant of taking all occasions to disparage the heathen philosophers. a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 27 Upon these vast accomplishments, he had built an unsufferable degree of pride. |
c. Of persons. Also absol.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Macc. viii. 5 Machabeus..was maad vnsuffreable to heithen men; forsothe the wrath of the Lord is conuertid in to mercye. c 1450 Holland Houlate 926 Thir birdis ilkane Besocht Natur to cess that vnsufferable. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 267 Unsouerable are thir pepille of Ingland. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 112 The more that an ignorant man is lift up unto some excellencie of dignitie.., the more unsufferable he is. 1619 A. Newman Pleas. Vis. (1840) 49 All know (vnsufferable Man) they [sc. women] are..beyond compare. 1678 A. Behn Sir P. Fancy i. i, The pertest unsufferable fool he ever saw. |
2. Too distressing, severe, or painful to be borne; going beyond the limits of physical endurance: a. Of outward things.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxlvii. 6 As wha say, vnsufferabil ware þat kald, if he lesid it noght. 1382 Wyclif Num. xi. 10 Thanne Moyses herde the puple wepynge bi meynees,..and to Moyses it was seen a thing vnsuffrable [L. intoleranda]. 1395 Purvey Remonstr. (1851) 22 Thei wolen putten to a man confessid to hem, greuouse chargis and vnsuffrable. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. cxxiii. G ij b, They were ashamed, that they dydde not abyde suche lyke labours, yea and moche more vnsufferable. 1562 Turner Baths 8 An unsufferable raynye, windye, or colde weather. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 720 The high ridges..are vnsufferable for cold. 1658 T. Wall Charact. Enemies Ch. 53 [To] lie under the..dreadful apprehensions, or unsufferable strokes of divine wrath. 1729 Savage Wanderer ii. 50 Like noon-tide summer-suns the rays appear, Unsuff'rable, magnificent and near! 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. iii. (1743) 202 An unsufferable, ill palated oily Juice, that will spoil all the Liquor. 1869 Spurgeon Treas. David Ps. xviii. 6 The king heard it in his palace of light unsufferable. |
b. Of pain, grief, fear, etc.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. pr. vii. 79 Grete sekenesse and..grete sorwes vnsuffrable. 1388 Wyclif Judith xiv. 17 Vnsuffrable drede and tremblyng felde doun on hem. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 40 Þe pacient feleþ as it war vnsufferable ychyng. c 1425 St. Christina xvi. in Anglia VIII. 125 She was stired of god vnto an vnsufferabil þriste. c 1445 Pecock Donet 71 For eesing of his vnsuffrable fleischli freelte. a 1589 Palfreyman Baldwin's Mor. Philos. (1600) 140 b, Conscience..worketh..vnsufferable torments,..to the condempnation of the vngodly. 1595 Clerke Polimanteia S j b, To my vnsufferable and vnpitied griefe. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 301 A torture unsufferable unto this young gentlewoman. 1700 Blackmore Job 138 My fullness gives unsufferable pain. 1722 De Foe Hist. Plague (1754) 261 The unsufferable Torment of the Swellings. |
† 3. Incapable of self-restraint. Obs.—1
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 61 Þis was a swiþe evel man,..and he was unsuffrable of leccherie [L. libidinis impatientissimus]. |
† 4. Not involving suffering. Obs.—1
| 1548 Geste Pr. Masse C vj, They greuously erre, who hold opinion y{supt} our faultes ar pardoned through theyr vnsufferable & vnbloudy sacrificing of christes bodi. |
† 5. Incompatible. Obs.—1
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. x, Eternity, and Chaunce are things unsufferable together. |
† 6. As adv. = unsufferably adv. 1. Obs.
| c 1420 Prose Life Alex. 76 Than commanded Alexander þat þay schuld make many fyres. For it began for to be vnsufferable calde. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. ¶23 Sometimes the Inck proves so unsufferable Pale, that [etc.]. |
Hence unˈsufferableness.
| 1611 Florio, Inpatibilita, vnsufferablenesse. 1677 A. Horneck Gt. Law Consid. iv. 175 His passions..represent to his mind..the unsufferableness of the disgrace. 1679 Kid in Hickes Spirit of Popery (1680) 2 There is something in a Christians condition, that can never put him without the reach of unsufferableness. |