Which to use
“intolerable” is an adjective and “intolerance” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,316
- “intolerable” frequency rank
- #15,842
- “intolerance” frequency rank
- 39158
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intolerable | intolerance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured. | The state of being intolerant. |
Where the eye mixes intolerable and intolerance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between intolerable and intolerance
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intolerable is /ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩/ while intolerance is /ɪnˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intolerable is recorded at frequency rank #23,316, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩/. intolerance is at rank #15,842, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 39158, this pair ranks #279,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intolerable vs intolerance
Shared letters: aeilnort. Private to "intolerable": b. Private to "intolerance": c.
"intolerable" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV · "intolerance" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intolerable ← inntolerable · inotlerable · intloerable · intoelrable · intolearble · intolerabble · intolerabel · intolerablle
- intolerance ← inntolerance · inotlerance · intloerance · intoelrance · intolearnce · intoleracne · intolerancce · intoleranec
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intolerable" and "intolerance" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "intolerable" vs "intolerance" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "intolerable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intolerance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intolerable" and "intolerance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inoperable vs intolerable". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #279,290 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.