endure
Americanverb (used with object)
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to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.
to endure great financial pressures with equanimity.
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to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate.
I cannot endure your insults any longer.
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to admit of; allow; bear.
His poetry is such that it will not endure a superficial reading.
verb (used without object)
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to continue to exist; last.
These words will endure as long as people live who love freedom.
- Synonyms:
- abide
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to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.
Even in the darkest ages humanity has endured.
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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
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to undergo (hardship, strain, privation, etc) without yielding; bear
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(tr) to permit or tolerate
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(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
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have enduredperfect
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has enduredperfect
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am enduringprogressive
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are enduringprogressive
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is enduringprogressive
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have been enduringperfect progressive
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has been enduringperfect progressive
Past
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enduredsimple
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had enduredperfect
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was enduringprogressive
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were enduringprogressive
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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.
Rather than simply endure the inquiry, Weist transformed it into a work of art.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026
"During this war, we have learned everything, adapted to everything, trained ourselves to endure everything," Amina's son, Saber, said.
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
The farm offers a lesson for America at 250: Institutions endure when each generation adapts them to present needs while preserving their essential framework and purpose.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026
In April, Ivory Coast had to endure several weeks of disruption in electricity distribution because of strong demand linked to high temperatures.
From Barron's • Jun. 26, 2026
But, as Kuhn also grasped, the fact that even the best-established scientific theories may not endure does not mean that they are unreliable, and it does not mean that science does not progress.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
