"Tolerably + *adjective*"

Does e.g. "tolerably disgusting" mean the degree of disgust involved is tolerable or intolerable? Or "tolerably vile" - does it mean the vileness involved is tolerable or intolerable?

Tolerably: adv.

• in an acceptable (but not outstanding) manner; "she plays tennis tolerably"

• acceptably, so-so

It means to an acceptable extent. The extent to which disgust or vileness are acceptable is a matter of personal opinion.

Tolerably disgusting means that the speaker finds it (whatever "it" is) disgusting, but can live with the level of disgust involved.

Similarly with tolerably vile: it's vile, but tolerable.

When something is "intolerably disgusting" it indicates that the speaker cannot stand the situation because of the disgust.

Generally, if something is described as tolerable, that's what it is.

The fact that there are so few examples on the internet for either of these usages shows that you're probably better avoiding them yourself. Though not ungrammatical, they're far from idiomatic (considered normal by native speakers).

'Tolerably' is almost always used in the (downtoner) sense 'reasonably' when modifying an adverb or adjective, as CDO indicates. And you'd not say 'reasonably disgusting' very often. The word is rarely if ever used with (especially strongly) 'negative' adjectives. This is not the case for 'intolerably', as Andrew indicates.

A "tolerably good meal" means that the meal was all-right, but not splendid. But you are perhaps more likely to hear it as a somewhat ironic understatement, when you really mean "a very good meal indeed". "Tolerably disgusting" is something I would only say if I am trying to be funny. The humourous tone comes from the fact that it is an oxymoron: if something is disgusting then it is by definition not tolerable.