endure
Americanverb (used with object)
-
endures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
endured,
past participle, past
-
enduring
present participle
-
to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.
to endure great financial pressures with equanimity.
-
to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate.
I cannot endure your insults any longer.
-
to admit of; allow; bear.
His poetry is such that it will not endure a superficial reading.
verb (used without object)
-
endures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
endured,
past participle, past
-
enduring
present participle
-
to continue to exist; last.
These words will endure as long as people live who love freedom.
- Synonyms:
- abide
-
to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.
Even in the darkest ages humanity has endured.
-
to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness.
His plays have endured for more than three centuries.
verb
-
to undergo (hardship, strain, privation, etc) without yielding; bear
-
(tr) to permit or tolerate
-
(intr) to last or continue to exist
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enduresimple
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enduressimple
-
have enduredperfect
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has enduredperfect
-
am enduringprogressive
-
are enduringprogressive
-
is enduringprogressive
-
have been enduringperfect progressive
-
has been enduringperfect progressive
Past
-
enduredsimple
-
had enduredperfect
-
was enduringprogressive
-
were enduringprogressive
-
had been enduringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of endure
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English enduren, from Anglo-French, Old French endurer, from Latin indūrāre “to harden, make lasting,” equivalent to in- in- 2 + dūrāre “to last, be or become hard,” derivative of dūrus “hard”
Explanation
If something endures, it lasts: Beethoven's fame has endured for more than 200 years. But if you endure something, you suffer through it: We endured our teacher's slide shows of her vacation photographs. Notice above that something that endures can be good or bad. Something you endure is always bad. And people are forever talking about what they can't or won't endure, as in "I refuse to endure any more abuse from my neighbors." Endure derives from the Latin indūrāre "to make hard," formed from the prefix in- "against, into" plus dūrus "hard."
Vocabulary lists containing endure
Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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List 5
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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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.
See Examples For:
In the 28 September post, James wrote that "what this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable" and told survivors that "we stand with you".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
By simply continuing to exist and endure this life you didn’t choose, you are no better than Digger Rockwell.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
You may endure a period of time where you cannot put your own clothes, bathe, or even cook or feed yourself.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
“What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable,” Ms. James wrote on Facebook before she was appointed by Ms. Hochul.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
She says she will find a way to travel to New Orleans for communion if she must, but she is not going to endure mistreatment anymore, even from a priest.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Carney said the goal of the energy support is "to help Ukrainians get through the winter," a difficult period when the country endures rolling blackouts amid often frigid temperatures.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The painful experience of the Hicks-Gillette ownership endures, hence the reluctance to throw support behind this possible new investment without more information.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
At last he gets home to his family with the trophy and, as he does, his story passes into immortality as the text of a civilization that endures for almost three millennia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
I am their hero, and now I am fighting to make sure the positive and real image they know of me is the one that endures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
But I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures.
From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
And something happened: The collective realization of how they’d all endured the same terrible losses took just enough steam out of the room that they began to talk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"This young woman had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable, and then at every turn she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her," Hochul said.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Treasurys have endured the humiliation of heavy losses brought on by exploding deficits and mounting inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
“To my eyes, if Rothko’s darkness is one that ‘opens’ then Yun’s is the darkness that remains after he endured everything he possibly could,” he writes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
They found no sympathy for the misery and terror they’d endured at sea, no appreciation for the fact that they’d kept their heads under fire and prevented a catastrophic war.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
But auto-fuel sales fell 1.9%, as crude-oil prices climbed throughout the month on enduring uncertainty over hostilities in the Persian Gulf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Speakers at the event included local, state and federal officials, many of whom described an eagle who inspired conservation and carved out an enduring legacy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
The drought has ruined pleasure boat tourism, while some question whether the lake will ever return to enduring full health.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
French inflation was higher than expected this month, reflecting enduring energy-price pressures that could push European Central Bank policymakers to raise interest rates again next month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Swift and enduring were the steeds of Rohan, but there were many leagues to go.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
