inured

American  

[in-yoord, ih-noord] / ɪnˈyʊərd, ɪˈnʊərd /

Also enured

adjective

1. hardened by frequent exposure, especially to something bad; accustomed.

   I realize that many teens have seen online porn and may be somewhat inured to scenes that seemed shocking to me.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of inure.

Other Word Forms

• inuredness
  noun
• uninured
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of inured

inure ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

If you have gotten so many mosquito bites in your life that they no longer bother you, you have become inured to them. This means you have become accustomed to tolerating them. This adjective is derived from the 16th-century phrase in ure, meaning “in use” or “in practice.” When you are inured to something, you have probably had a lot of persistent exposure to it, and it’s usually something negative. People can become inured to pain, inured to violence, and even inured to the sound of a little yappy dog that won’t stop barking.

Example Sentences

Inured to living in one of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flash points, Taiwanese people have largely taken the prospect of the visit in stride.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2022

Inured to stranger ones, Art Baker and his staff of 8 scarcely gave it a second thought.

From Time Magazine Archive

Inured as they were to constantly recurring rumors that El Caudillo was ailing or senile or about to quit, Spaniards were nonetheless taken unawares.

From Time Magazine Archive

Inured to such tactics, Carter suggested a footnote to cover Begin's objections.

From Time Magazine Archive

Inured by the confirmation of his own inconsequence, he became resilient and truly indifferent.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Related Words

• accustomed
• chronic
• deep-rooted
• deep-seated
• dyed-in-the-wool
• entrenched
• fixed
• habituated
• ingrained
• inveterate