insoportable

Insoportable is a Spanish adjective meaning unbearable or intolerable, used to describe conditions, sensations, or circumstances that are very difficult to endure. It can modify nouns across contexts, for example un dolor insoportable (unbearable pain), ruido insoportable (unbearable noise), or una espera insoportable (an unbearable wait). It can also be used figuratively to express emotional or moral strain, such as una culpa insoportable or una responsabilidad insoportable.

Etymology: the term is formed from the prefix in- plus soportable, itself from soportar “to bear,” which ultimately derives from Latin supportare. The word is commonly pronounced with the stress on the ta syllable.

Forms: insoportable is generally invariable for gender in the singular, appearing as un calor insoportable or una experiencia insoportable. In the plural, it becomes insoportables: los ruidos insoportables, las condiciones insoportables.

Notable usage: the phrase appears prominently in literature through Milan Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, whose Spanish title is La insoportable levedad del ser (1984). The expression has circulated in broader usage to convey extreme or intolerable situations.

See also: synonyms such as intolerable, inaceptable; antonyms such as tolerable, soportable.