grin and bear it

Idioms  

1. Put up good-humoredly with adversity, with good humor, as in It's no fun being sick for the holidays, but you might as well grin and bear it. Also put as grin and abide in the 19th century, this expression became so well known that Sam Walter Foss (1858–1911) made a pun on it in his poem, “The Firm of Grin and Barrett”: “Never yet was any panic Scared the firm of Grin and Barrett.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grin and bear it

"It felt like if you want to go to the men's game, you have to grin and bear it," she says.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

But she doesn’t have to grin and bear it when it comes to bad behavior from fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2023

By speaking up when neurotypical people might just grin and bear it, she and others can improve the office environment for all.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 20, 2023

All that was left to do was grin and bear it and hope that Mom would give me a turkey sandwich for lunch the next day.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2022

According to the powers that be, I’m supposed to grin and bear it.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

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Related Words

• brave
• encounter
• experience
• face
• feel
• go through
• know
• ride out
• suffer
• sustain
• tolerate
• undergo
• weather
• withstand

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