tolerable
Americanadjective
-
capable of being tolerated; endurable.
His arrogance is no longer tolerable.
- Synonyms:
- supportable, bearable
-
fairly good; not bad.
- Synonyms:
- so-so, indifferent, middling, passable
-
Informal. in fair health.
adjective
-
able to be tolerated; endurable
-
permissible
-
informal fairly good
Other Word Forms
- nontolerable adjective
- nontolerableness noun
- nontolerably adverb
- tolerability noun
- tolerableness noun
- tolerably adverb
- untolerable adjective
- untolerableness noun
- untolerably adverb
Etymology
Origin of tolerable
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin tolerābilis, equivalent to tolerā ( re ) to endure + -bilis -ble
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That prospect for growth makes its valuation look tolerable.
From Barron's
The applicant must be an adult, "have decision-making capacity", suffer from a serious or incurable illness, and "experience constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved under conditions deemed tolerable".
From Barron's
"If you keep working hard, the hard work will find a way to engulf the problem and make it tolerable. That is what I'm doing."
From BBC
Unless ocean temperatures return to more tolerable levels, bleached corals are unable to recover and eventually die of starvation.
From Barron's
We are quite more tolerable when they start telling us the truth by agreeing with us.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
