endure
Americanverb (used with object)
-
endures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
endured,
past participle, past
-
enduring
present participle
-
to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.
to endure great financial pressures with equanimity.
-
to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate.
I cannot endure your insults any longer.
-
to admit of; allow; bear.
His poetry is such that it will not endure a superficial reading.
verb (used without object)
-
endures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
endured,
past participle, past
-
enduring
present participle
-
to continue to exist; last.
These words will endure as long as people live who love freedom.
- Synonyms:
- abide
-
to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.
Even in the darkest ages humanity has endured.
-
to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness.
His plays have endured for more than three centuries.
verb
-
to undergo (hardship, strain, privation, etc) without yielding; bear
-
(tr) to permit or tolerate
-
(intr) to last or continue to exist
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
enduresimple
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enduressimple
-
have enduredperfect
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has enduredperfect
-
am enduringprogressive
-
are enduringprogressive
-
is enduringprogressive
-
have been enduringperfect progressive
-
has been enduringperfect progressive
Past
-
enduredsimple
-
had enduredperfect
-
was enduringprogressive
-
were enduringprogressive
-
had been enduringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of endure
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English enduren, from Anglo-French, Old French endurer, from Latin indūrāre “to harden, make lasting,” equivalent to in- in- 2 + dūrāre “to last, be or become hard,” derivative of dūrus “hard”
Explanation
If something endures, it lasts: Beethoven's fame has endured for more than 200 years. But if you endure something, you suffer through it: We endured our teacher's slide shows of her vacation photographs. Notice above that something that endures can be good or bad. Something you endure is always bad. And people are forever talking about what they can't or won't endure, as in "I refuse to endure any more abuse from my neighbors." Endure derives from the Latin indūrāre "to make hard," formed from the prefix in- "against, into" plus dūrus "hard."
Vocabulary lists containing endure
Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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List 5
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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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.
See Examples For:
Summer in Los Angeles may not have broken any heat records — yet — but the relentless hot weather may be more than you’re able to endure, at least comfortably.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Long space missions can force small crews to endure isolation, cramped living conditions, and intense psychological pressure for months at a time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Hoping others never have to endure their pain.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
That is the true art of the beach sandwich: building something not merely to endure the wait, but to meet you at the other end of it.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
Because no one could be expected to endure these perils for long, men were rotated on a regular schedule whenever possible.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Whether parliament's new lexicon endures remains to be seen.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
I am their hero, and now I am fighting to make sure the positive and real image they know of me is the one that endures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
They documented what endures and is genuinely lovable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Chairman Greenspan’s legacy endures at the Federal Reserve—in those he mentored directly, in the economists and public servants he inspired, and in the frameworks and practices he helped shape,” the central bank said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
They came from deeps no child discovers, and shook him with an ague no child endures.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
No matter how many cities visited, career paths pursued, or partners endured, a person’s core traits remain the same.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
But SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s 2016 pledge to maintain Arm’s “neutrality and independence” has plainly not endured.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Southern California has endured a hot and unusually muggy summer, with a string of heat waves that has had forecasters and public health authorities warning of an increased risk of heat-related illness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Alex West was left harrowed by the difficult labour his wife endured for their first child.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Without his consent he could not have been punished by anyone—yet nobody ever endured so many punishments.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
But even his future illustrates the enduring pull of Real Madrid.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
She, like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith who came before her, remains an enduring touchstone of black musical culture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Silver Platter has operated since 1963, becoming one of Los Angeles’ oldest and most enduring gathering places for queer and transgender Latinos in Westlake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
But the roughly 2,500 who remain include hundreds of unaccompanied minors who are enduring dire conditions with limited access to food, water, shelter and sanitation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
In one of archaeology's most enduring mysteries, Maya civilization crumbled around it within a century.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
