endurable

American  

[en-door-uh-buhl, -dyoor-] / ɛnˈdʊər ə bəl, -ˈdyʊər- /

adjective

1. capable of being endured; bearable; tolerable.

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Other Word Forms

• endurability noun
• endurableness noun
• endurably adverb
• nonendurable adjective
• unendurability adjective
• unendurable adjective
• unendurableness noun
• unendurably adverb

Etymology

Origin of endurable

First recorded in 1600–10; endure + -able

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."

Example Sentences

Could a cold plunge be not only endurable but enjoyable?

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

I’m partial to Temple this time around for no other reason than the fact that her presence made the 10-episode run of “The Godfather” limited series “The Offer” almost endurable.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2022

So how do you know when a gross but endurable situation requires medical intervention?

From Salon • May 16, 2021

But several hours later, on the rainy street, she managed to convince herself that answering was more endurable than going through Oliver’s voice mails.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 20, 2018

I had been alone before, but the knowledge that my father would return from his meetings and spend a few minutes with me had made the loneliness endurable.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok