unacceptableun‧ac‧cept‧a‧ble /ˌʌnəkˈseptəbəl◂/ ●●○ adjective 
I found her attitude totally unacceptable. unacceptable levels of pollutionunacceptable to The recommendations from this report are unacceptable to many black people.unacceptable to do something It was socially unacceptable to discuss sex then.—unacceptably adverb: Unemployment is unacceptably high.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- unacceptable behavior
- McCartney's response is totally unacceptable.
- Most women said they thought the ruling was unfair and unacceptable.
- We regard the idea of being able to choose the sex of your baby as wholly unacceptable.
- Any great degree of such aortic valve incompetence will place an unacceptable work-load on the heart, with resulting heart failure.
- If so, that is unacceptable.
- In the short run, it made many black artists unacceptable on urban stations.
- It simply states that present proposals are unacceptable because they do not retain a fair and equitable trading system.
- It was the manner in which such a sacred subject was interpreted which was unacceptable.
- The foregoing justification of induction is quite unacceptable, as David Hume conclusively demonstrated as long ago as the mid-eighteenth century.
- Thus such ceremonials do not violate the First Amendment unless the language used in them is unacceptable.
- To some, they were crude, rude, and socially unacceptable.
Longman Language Activatorwhen a situation is so bad that you cannot stand it
also can't bear especially British to be unable to accept an unpleasant situation: · Europeans never stay there for long. They can't stand the heat.· I can't bear the smell of stale cigarette smoke in her hair.can't stand/bear the thought of something: · She couldn't stand the thought of losing her children.can't stand/bear to do something/can't stand/bear doing something: · I couldn't bear to listen to her screams.
especially spoken to be unable to accept an unpleasant situation without becoming angry or upset, especially when someone's behaviour is not fair or reasonable: · Careful what you say - he can't take criticism.· She just keeps crying and throwing tantrums - I can't handle much more of it.can't take/handle something any more: · I just couldn't take it any more. I left the next day.
to be unable to stand something because thinking about it makes you feel sick or angry: · He really can't stomach the sight of blood.
formal to be completely unable to stand someone or something that is very annoying: · If there's one thing I cannot abide, it's spoilt children.· Mary couldn't abide shopping on Saturdays because the stores were always so crowded.
something that is unbearable , such as a pain or a bad situation, is too bad for you to deal with or live with: · Without him, my life would be unbearable.· The stench from the sink was almost unbearable.· The strain eventually became unbearable, and Adam started seeing a psychiatrist.
too difficult, unpleasant, or annoying to stand: · Living conditions at the camp were intolerable.· Passengers faced intolerable delays and disruption due to the bad weather conditions.· All the media attention during the trial had put the family under intolerable strain.
something that is unacceptable is wrong and cannot be accepted or allowed to continue: · Most women said they thought the ruling was unfair and unacceptable.· The plan was rejected because it involved an "unacceptable risk to public safety'.· We regard the idea of being able to choose the sex of your baby as wholly unacceptable.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Terrorism is totally unacceptable in a civilised world.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
· This sort of behavior is completely unacceptable.
Terrorism is totally unacceptable in a civilised world.· It is a form of violence that the state does not seem to regard as unacceptable.· Therefore any theory which denies that it is must be rejected as unacceptable.· This is related to the fact that Eastern races regard the consumption of milk and cheese as unacceptable social behaviour.· This does not necessarily imply acceptance of these images since they may be seen as unacceptable in their own right.· Additionally, they feared the full development of a national health service, viewed by them as unacceptable socialism.
· This is tragedy, completely unacceptable when comfortable Western nations are replete with food, and waste huge amounts of it.· An organ should be removed if the alternative at this time is completely unacceptable.
· It would be politically unacceptable to exempt Enterprise Zones from their restrictions.· But the stage has probably been reached where only a politically unacceptable increase in those rates would stabilise the currency.· In 1990 the unpopularity of the poll tax made even that levy politically unacceptable.· A major new endowment for Gloucester could only be achieved at the expense of existing interests, and this was politically unacceptable.· However, the view is widespread that the destruction of food is politically unacceptable.
· The foregoing justification of induction is quite unacceptable, as David Hume conclusively demonstrated as long ago as the mid-eighteenth century.· Many of these provisions would be quite unacceptable to a civil law country.· The promotion of women ran into fierce resistance, which led to persistent and quite unacceptable forms of discrimination.· Bishop Harris is quite unacceptable to the Vatican.· Yet they headed governments with authoritarian features that were quite unacceptable.
· Traditional consumption could soon become socially unacceptable.· To some, they were crude, rude, and socially unacceptable.· Driving under the influence of alcohol has come to be seen as socially unacceptable.· The incidence of bad debt, he concluded, was socially unacceptable and financially disastrous.· Any individual with a socially unacceptable appearance might be suspected of witchcraft.· Society can not abandon extensive parts of the country - that would be socially unacceptable and economically untenable.
· In doing so, he would inevitably have descended into the arena in a totally unacceptable way.· On the other hand, if the parameter is representative of a developing trend, it may be totally unacceptable.· It is amazing how dominant the educational establishment has been for so long, which is totally unacceptable.· Business as usual must be totally unacceptable.· Again, it is not surprising that most Christians find this theory totally unacceptable.· This sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable.· The rival proposals for Stratford are totally unacceptable.· He told parliament there had been a totally unacceptable series of events.
· Such a philosophy is wholly unacceptable and shows how stupid the tax was.· This is an unscientific procedure that is widely practiced but must be condemned as wholly unacceptable.· By the by, those conditions are wholly unacceptable to our partners and would destroy the whole purpose and form of a central bank.· Through their wholly unacceptable behaviour, keoi mark themselves apart from humans, while reminding them of the possibility of such behaviour.
NOUN· Four boys have been suspended due to unacceptable behaviour.· I decided to follow him to his bedroom to confront him with this unacceptable behaviour.· One reason for this reluctance to take action against the process of monopolization is the difficulty of distinguishing acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.· As reported last month four boys have been suspended for unacceptable behaviour and have expressed no regret for their actions.· In chapter 4 I suggested that you might try ignoring certain categories of unacceptable behaviour.· However, within such a community, Durkheim argues that the division between what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour would still exist.· While accepting that smacking is universal, he believes there are better methods of teaching children what is acceptable or unacceptable behaviour.
· There was also a view that there was an unacceptable face of capitalism.· The rat is the unacceptable face of the environment; so is listeria and clostridium botulinum.
· Some environmentalists argue, however, that it will produce unacceptable levels of pollution, and that it is also economically inappropriate.· On the upper levels of the church lichen deposits have reached unacceptable levels.· I agree with everything that the hon. Gentleman has said about the unacceptable level of unemployment in Northern Ireland.· Pay increases alone could not achieve this without inflating the country's wage bill to an unacceptable level.· Instead, it should be seen as a successful attempt to control speeds which would reach unacceptable levels if left unchecked.· John Wright, counsel for Timex Electronics, told the judge the gatherings had produced disorder of an unacceptable level.· I don't think teachers are so unprofessional that they are going to communicate unacceptable levels of stress on their children.· The factories can be reported to the pollution inspectorate if unacceptable levels of pollution are found.
· Installing new unproven software posed unacceptable risks to Pearl's tight implementation timetable.· It will expose our economy to unacceptable risks and should not be adopted.· Companies that take unacceptable risk plainly also disappear.· At issue is whether the hardware can be integrated without creating unacceptable risk of another failure.· For these and other reasons, a balanced-budget amendment poses unacceptable risks.· Trading Bonds for a pitcher is an unacceptable risk because pitchers break down so frequently.
WORD FAMILYadjectiveacceptable ≠ unacceptableacceptednounacceptanceverbacceptadverbacceptably ≠ unacceptably
something that is unacceptable is so wrong or bad that you think it should not be allowed: I found her attitude totally unacceptable. unacceptable levels of pollutionunacceptable to The recommendations from this report are unacceptable to many black people.unacceptable to do something It was socially unacceptable to discuss sex then.—unacceptably adverb: Unemployment is unacceptably high.