endurable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of endurable
Explanation
If you can tolerate something, it's endurable. Getting a cavity filled at the dentist, while not very fun, is still endurable. Use the adjective endurable to describe something that's no fun, but that a person can generally deal with. Standardized tests are endurable, and eating soggy, overcooked broccoli is endurable. A long ride on a stormy sea — as long as the ship doesn't capsize — is also endurable. To endure something is to withstand it — if it's endurable, it can be endured. The word is rooted in the Latin indurare, "to make hard or firm."
Vocabulary lists containing endurable
The Bluest Eye
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Voyage of the Frog
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
Could a cold plunge be not only endurable but enjoyable?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
With a price per viewing of zero, Netflix and Amazon Prime shows only have to be endurable.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 4, 2019
It is also 22 minutes shorter and, though no less committed to an aesthetic of shattered glass and pulverized steel, a rather more endurable experience on the whole.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2018
Perhaps this is what Rothko meant when he told a group of art students that he included in his paintings a measure of hope: ‘‘10 percent to make the tragic concept more endurable.’’
From New York Times ● Aug. 23, 2017
The coroner’s men did what they could to make the viewing as endurable as possible.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
