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
-
has been enduringperfect progressive
Past
-
enduredsimple
-
had enduredperfect
-
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.
See Examples For:
The leadership's idea of endurance looks very different to those required to endure it.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
When the state was slow to act, conservative preachers’ sermons were cruel and much of the country looked away, these spaces helped people endure.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
As lifespans stretch, so does the need for retirement income that can endure across decades.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The technology is intended to help astronauts and equipment endure the extended lunar night.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
“The Phlegethon keeps the wicked in one piece so that they can endure the torments of the Fields of Punishment. I think...it might be the Underworld equivalent of ambrosia and nectar.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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
Our task in 2026 isn’t simply to look back, but to pass these values to the next generation for the next 250 years, ensuring this republic endures for both the living and the dead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● 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
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
“The stigma cast upon him—and by extension, his loved ones—and the daily pressure and anxiety he endured undoubtedly played a role,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
This study, however, is the first to clearly show that one of those worlds has an atmosphere that may have endured for billions of years.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
McIlroy endured a rollercoaster first round at Royal Birkdale which included six bogeys and four birdies in his two-over round of 72.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Like Los Angeles, the restaurant endured by reinventing itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Her actions did earn her a one-week suspension from the school, but the nineteen-year-old had endured far worse penalties in the past and had no regrets about the incident.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
On Wednesday, swathes of other areas, including the central hub of Nagoya and communities near Tokyo in the east, were enduring temperatures approaching or exceeding 40C.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Kraft Heinz KHC -0.08%decrease; down pointing triangle and Disney DIS -1.29%decrease; down pointing triangle struck a deal that gives the food conglomerate a foothold in one of America’s most enduring entertainment empires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Lindzon believes investors need to approach the AI space with caution, he said, even if the technology looks enduring.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
"Left behind are hundreds of political prisoners and an entire people enduring perhaps the worst moment in their history. He has not forgotten this."
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
I see that the keenest brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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.
