cannot bear to; not worth

に堪えない has two senses: with a verb of perception it means too painful to do (見るに堪えない), and with a noun it means not worth doing. Attach it to a verb's dictionary form or a noun. It is formal and emphatic.

Examples

• 事故じこ現場げんばは、見みるに堪たえない有様ありさまだった。

  Jiko genba wa, miru ni taenai arisama datta.

  The accident scene was too gruesome to look at.

• 彼かれの話はなしは聞きくに堪たえない。

  Kare no hanashi wa kiku ni taenai.

  I can't bear to listen to his talk.

Vocabulary in these examples

• 事故 accident
• 見る to see; to watch
• 彼 he, him
• 聞く to listen; to ask

Related patterns · Extremity and degree

• 〜の極み the height of; the extreme of
• 〜の至り the height of; utmost
• 〜限りだ extremely; couldn't be more
• 〜極まりない extremely; utterly
• 〜に足る worth; enough to