bearable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- bearableness noun
- bearably adverb
Etymology
Origin of bearable
Explanation
Something that you can live through, disagreeable as it may be, is bearable. The world's most boring math class, while tedious, is bearable. If you can stand to do something, it's bearable. You might have several tricks for making a hot summer day bearable, like drinking iced tea or sitting beside a fan. A shy child might find the first day of kindergarten more bearable if his best friend is in his class. The adjective bearable comes from the sense of bear that means "endure" or "get through." The origin is the Old English beran, from a Germanic root.
Vocabulary lists containing bearable
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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The Devil's Arithmetic
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-able
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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.
There has also been a surge of online advice on how to make time in shelters more bearable.
From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026
The chair would make life’s unavoidable irritants that much more bearable.
From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026
The situation is particularly acute in the capital, Kyiv, where blackouts had, until late last year, largely been a bearable annoyance that residents could weather with power banks, candles and battery-powered torches.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026
The pressures of life, which in that moment felt unbearable, proved bearable.
From Slate • Dec. 26, 2025
Maybe this new life would turn out to be bearable, after all.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
