耐(た)え難(がた)い

たえがたい
i-adjective
unbearable; intolerable; hard to endure
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present耐(た)え難(がた)い耐(た)え難(がた)くない
Past耐(た)え難(がた)かった耐(た)え難(がた)くなかった
て form耐(た)え難(がた)くて耐(た)え難(がた)くなくて
Adverbial耐(た)え難(がた)く—
Conditional ば耐(た)え難(がた)ければ耐(た)え難(がた)くなければ
Conditional たら耐(た)え難(がた)かったら耐(た)え難(がた)くなかったら
1. unbearable; intolerable; hard to endure
So painful, difficult, or unpleasant that it is extremely hard to bear or put up with.
耐(た)え難(がた)い痛(いた)みだ。
It's an unbearable pain.
耐(た)え難(がた)い暑(あつ)さの中(なか)、作業(さぎょう)を続(つづ)けた。
They continued working in the unbearable heat.
耐(た)え難(がた)きを耐(た)え、忍(しの)び難(がた)きを忍(しの)び。
Enduring the unendurable, bearing the unbearable.
Famous phrase from Emperor Showa's 1945 radio address announcing Japan's surrender.

Formed from 耐(た)える (to endure) + 難(がた)い (difficult to ~). A literary and formal expression for extreme difficulty in enduring something.

CULTURAL CONTEXT:
The phrase 耐(た)え難(がた)きを耐(た)え、忍(しの)び難(がた)きを忍(しの)び is one of the most famous lines in modern Japanese history, from the 玉音放送(ぎょくおんほうそう) (Imperial radio broadcast) on August 15, 1945, in which Emperor Showa announced Japan's surrender.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 耐(た)え難(がた)い痛(いた)み — unbearable pain
  • 耐(た)え難(がた)い苦(くる)しみ — intolerable suffering
  • 耐(た)え難(がた)い屈辱(くつじょく) — unbearable humiliation
  • 耐(た)え難(がた)い暑(あつ)さ — unbearable heat

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 我慢(がまん)できない — can't stand it; more colloquial
  • 信(しん)じ難(がた)い — hard to believe; same ～難(がた)い pattern
  • 堪(た)えられない — unbearable; spoken/colloquial equivalent
general
Added 2026.3.26 20:49
19500/19680_taegatai