learn to live with

Idioms

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.

See Examples For:

learn to live with

Investors must learn to live with uncertainty about any supplies from the Gulf even if an agreement on the strait eventually appears, Christopher Smart writes.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

“I guess soccer fans are just going to have to learn to live with it,” Fernandez said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

I’d learn to live with my new voice.

From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026

"I'm still trying to learn to live with it and not having any answers makes me angry."

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025

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