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
-
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:
Long space missions can force small crews to endure isolation, cramped living conditions, and intense psychological pressure for months at a time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Altadena is not the first community to endure this cycle, and it will not be the last,” the letter said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
That is the true art of the beach sandwich: building something not merely to endure the wait, but to meet you at the other end of it.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
Though there’s a general agreement that the sport is cleaner, today’s riders—especially the best ones—continue to endure consequences from their predecessors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
With no solutions in sight, oil producers have little choice but to try to communicate goodwill to the administration—and play the role of whipping boy as the crisis endures, observers say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Sarah says she endures the long travel time as she loves running her shop.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 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
De la Espriella won Sunday's tightly-fought presidential election by less than a percentage point as Colombia endures its highest levels of violence in a decade.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
He endures the cold pretty well, and if courage were enough, would stand it like a snow-worm.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Finishing late does not erase ... everything residents endured getting here,” Jurado said in the statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
No matter how many cities visited, career paths pursued, or partners endured, a person’s core traits remain the same.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Gen. Alexander Ivanayev, who had previously led the Vostok, or East, troop grouping, which had endured a wave of Ukrainian counterattacks in the southeast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The Moon has endured countless blows over millions of years.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Families who remained behind to farm endured famine-like conditions and malnutrition.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
His enduring sensibility would draw him close to British artists of the Aesthetic movement and especially the Pre-Raphaelites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
But even his future illustrates the enduring pull of Real Madrid.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
But the roughly 2,500 who remain include hundreds of unaccompanied minors who are enduring dire conditions with limited access to food, water, shelter and sanitation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
For nearly a century, Social Security’s greatest strength has been its enduring public support.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun's enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
