beyond the pale

So bad or shocking that people cannot accept it.

• His behaviour was beyond the pale.
• Those racist remarks are beyond the pale.
• Even her supporters thought the attack was beyond the pale.

Similar words: unacceptable, outrageous, intolerable

Opposites: acceptable

Common phrases: be beyond the pale, seem beyond the pale

Outside the area or limits of something.

• They lived beyond the pale of civilization.
• The settlement lay beyond the pale of English rule.
• These lands remained beyond the pale of his authority.

How to use it: beyond the pale of something (The remote valley lay beyond the pale of royal authority.)

Similar words: outside, beyond

Opposites: within

Common phrases: beyond the pale of, lie beyond the pale