Too painful, too unpleasant, or too difficult to bear. This is the top of the scale. Something uncomfortable you put up with; something painful you struggle through; something unendurable defeats you — you cannot keep taking it, and you have to escape, stop, or break.

Too painful, too unpleasant, or too difficult to bear太痛苦、太不舒服，或太難承受。This is the top of the scale這是這個程度量表的最頂端。Something uncomfortable you put up with不舒服的事情你會忍受；something painful you struggle through痛苦的事情你會咬牙撐過去；something unendurable defeats youunendurable的事情則會擊垮你——you cannot keep taking it你沒辦法繼續承受下去，and you have to escape, stop, or break只能逃開、停下來，或崩潰。

It is used for physical pain ('the pain in his back became unendurable'), and just as often for feelings and situations: grief, shame, loneliness, heat, waiting, the tension in a room. Notice one strange thing about it: people usually keep enduring the unendurable anyway.

It is used for physical pain這個字可以用在生理上的痛('the pain in his back became unendurable')（像'the pain in his back became unendurable'），and just as often for feelings and situations也常常用在感受和處境上：grief, shame, loneliness, heat, waiting, the tension in a room悲傷、羞愧、孤獨、酷熱、等待、房間裡的緊張氣氛。Notice one strange thing about it注意一件很奇怪的事：people usually keep enduring the unendurable anyway人們通常還是會繼續忍受那個unendurable的事情。

Writers use it precisely because the situation continues past the point where it should be possible — 'those unendurable weeks after the funeral'. So it often describes what someone has already lived through, not what stopped them.

Writers use it precisely because the situation continues past the point where it should be possible作家會用這個字，正是因為情況延續到照理說不可能撐下去的地步——'those unendurable weeks after the funeral'「those unendurable weeks after the funeral」（喪禮後那幾個難熬到不行的星期）。So it often describes what someone has already lived through所以它常常形容的是一個人已經撐過去的事，not what stopped them而不是讓他們停下來的事。

It is a formal, written word; you would meet it in a novel or a serious article, not usually in conversation. In speech an English speaker would say 'I couldn't take it any more', 'it was unbearable', or just 'it was too much'. Unbearable is the common twin and means the same thing — it is simply the one people actually say.

It is a formal, written word這是個正式的書面字——you would meet it in a novel or a serious article你會在小說或嚴肅的文章裡遇到它，not usually in conversation通常不會出現在對話裡。In speech an English speaker would say 'I couldn't take it any more'口語裡英語母語者會說「I couldn't take it any more」，'it was unbearable'「it was unbearable」，or just 'it was too much'或是直接說「it was too much」。Unbearable is the common twin and means the same thingunbearable是常見的雙胞胎字，意思一樣——it is simply the one people actually say只是這是大家實際上真的會講的那個字。