Meaning
A strict policy of refusing to accept or excuse any instance of a specific undesirable behavior, no matter how minor.
It signals that there are no exceptions or degrees of severity under the policy — a single violation triggers the full consequence, regardless of context or intent.
Origin
The phrase is attested in American political language by 1972, initially in the broad sense of an uncompromising stance against a targeted problem. It became closely associated with specific policy domains over the following two decades: 1980s U.S. drug-enforcement and “broken windows” policing strategies, which called for punishing even minor offenses immediately and consistently, and 1990s American school discipline policies that mandated automatic, non-negotiable consequences (often expulsion) for offenses like weapons or drug possession. That association with rigid, no-exceptions institutional policy — sometimes criticized for punishing minor or accidental infractions as harshly as serious ones — is what has stuck in the term’s everyday use, well beyond its original late-20th-century American law-enforcement setting.
Examples
The school has zero tolerance for bullying.
Our company enforces zero tolerance for harassment of any kind.
The new coach has zero tolerance for lateness.
A: What happens if someone breaks the rule once? B: There’s zero tolerance, no exceptions.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'Zero tolerance' mean?
A strict policy of refusing to accept or excuse any instance of a specific undesirable behavior, no matter how minor.
It signals that there are no exceptions or degrees of severity under the policy — a single violation triggers the full consequence, regardless of context or intent.