endurance
Americannoun
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the fact or power of enduring or bearing pain, hardships, etc.
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the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.
He has amazing physical endurance.
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lasting quality; duration.
His friendships have little endurance.
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something endured, as a hardship; trial.
noun
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the capacity, state, or an instance of enduring
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something endured; a hardship, strain, or privation
Related Words
See patience.
Etymology
Origin of endurance
Explanation
Endurance is the power to withstand something challenging. If you decide to run a marathon, you will need lots of endurance to run over 26 miles. The noun endurance contains endure, which means "to suffer or undergo" and the suffix -ance means "the state of." It can be used to describe the physical strength to keep going, as in a marathon or giving birth, but it can also be used when discussing an exhausting mental situation or stressful time — the endurance to bounce back from heartbreak, perhaps.
Vocabulary lists containing endurance
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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Excerpt from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
He added: "The competition, endurance style racing with team-mates .... a 24 hour race, especially here, is super challenging."
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Researchers examined changes in fitness, muscular strength, and endurance, all of which followed a similar downward trend over time.
From Science Daily • May 15, 2026
Saul, whose family died in the Holocaust, is the novel’s conscience, while Honor is its model of endurance and self-invention.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
I can be at the office for 10-hour days, which is like an athlete where it’s about discipline and grit and endurance.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
On this Holy Thursday, Father Restrepo had led his audience to the limits of their endurance with his apocalyptic visions, and Nivea was beginning to feel dizzy.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
