bearable

[bair-uh-buh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bearable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

capable of being endured or tolerated; endurable.

Nearby words

Origin of bearable

First recorded in 1540–50; bear¹ + -able

Related formsbear·a·ble·ness, nounbear·a·bly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bearable

Just a gradual, bearable, steady impoverishment in a world where savings linked to the value of paper money languish.
Keeping Your Faith (In Gold)|David Frum|April 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When the stages of life are followed in order: birth, aging, illness, and death—they are bearable.
Japanese Horror Director Tackles the 3/11 Tsunami|Jake Adelstein, Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky|February 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In retrospect, my wife—journalist, mother, yoga phenom—clearly had a somewhat extreme interpretation of bearable.
My Accidental Home Birth|Jim Sciutto|November 30, 2010|DAILY BEAST
What is it, then, that makes this conflict not only possible and bearable but even pleasant?
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler|Samuel Butler

It seemed as if, had he come with us, everything would have been right, or at least bearable.
The Chauffeur and the Chaperon|C. N. Williamson
The want of sleep conduces to an unnatural condition of the mind, under which these awful facts are bearable to the bereaved.
The Johnstown Horror|James Herbert Walker
His mother's anger was bearable, but the Colonel's very weakness was a deadly weapon.
The Hero|William Somerset Maugham
The certainty would have been bearable; I had courage to face ruin.
Helmet of Navarre|Bertha Runkle

British Dictionary definitions for bearable

bearable

adjective

endurable; tolerable

Derived Formsbearably, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bearable

bearable

adj.

"endurable," mid-15c., from bear (v.) + -able. Related: Bearably.

bearable

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of bearable

Examples from the Web for bearable

bearable

adjective

bearable