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learn to live with

Idioms  

  1. Get used to or accustom oneself to something that is painful, annoying, or unpleasant. For example, The doctor said nothing more could be done about improving her sight; she'd just have to learn to live with it, or Pat decided she didn't like the new sofa but would have to learn to live with it.

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.

I’d learn to live with my new voice.

From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026

For Schwab’s strategists, investors will simply have to learn to live with stubborn inflation.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 10, 2025

But the frequency of attacks has forced residents to learn to live with the war and maintain as normal a life as possible.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2025

“As you grow older, you kind of learn to live with the joys and pain of life, y’all .… Can I get a witness to that?”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2024

A doctor suggested that Wilson learn to live with the pain instead of having disk surgery, as Jean Miele had done.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

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.