zero tolerance

1. 1.

   extreme intolerance of antisocial behavior (usually by an uncompromising application of the law)

   “he urged zero tolerance for priests who abuse children sexually”

   Broaderintolerance

Questions about zero tolerance

What does zero tolerance mean?

zero tolerance means "extreme intolerance of antisocial behavior (usually by an uncompromising application of the law)".

Is zero tolerance a common word?

zero tolerance is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.