long-suffering

[lawng-suhf-er-ing, -suhf-ring, long-]

adjective

1. enduring injury, trouble, or provocation long and patiently.

noun

1. long and patient endurance of injury, trouble, or provocation.

   years of long-suffering and illness.

long-suffering

adjective

1. enduring pain, unhappiness, etc, without complaint

noun

1. long and patient endurance

Other Word Forms

• long-sufferingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of long-suffering¹

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

Insisting it was "pronounced Bouquet," Hyacinth ran roughshod over her long-suffering husband and bewildered neighbours in Keeping Up Appearances, one of Britain's most successful sitcoms in the 1990s.

From BBC

He told the actor that he was a fan of his and had loved watching the American Pie films - the coming of age movies starring Levy as a long-suffering father.

From BBC

He said he had been a fan of the American Pie series of films – the bawdy coming-of-age movies in which Levy played a long-suffering father.

From BBC

To the loyal and long-suffering fans of Orange County, Trout is their Gwynn.

From Los Angeles Times

It was an evening that promised so much for Aaron Rodgers, the New York Jets and their long-suffering fans.

From BBC

When To Use

What does long-suffering mean?

Long-suffering is most commonly used as an adjective to describe someone who patiently endures negative situations for long periods of time without complaining.It’s often used in situations in which someone has endured pain, injury, illness, hardship, tragedy, or difficulty in accomplishing something. It’s also often used to describe a person who has stood by or supported someone during a difficult time.Sometimes, it’s used in the context of situations that aren’t very serious, such as to describe the faithful and long-suffering fans of a team that always loses. It’s also often used to describe a spouse as patiently enduring the whims or aggravating behaviors of their partner, as in My long-suffering husband merely sighed when I brought home yet another stray cat.Importantly, though, long-suffering doesn’t simply indicate that someone has endured bad things for a long time—it implies that they have endured such things without complaint.Long-suffering can also be used as a noun meaning the patient endurance of negative situations without complaint. It can refer to a quality, an ability, or an instance of such endurance.In religious contexts, long-suffering is discussed as a virtue, especially one involving being patient and slow to get angry. A close synonym is forbearance.Long-suffering is sometimes spelled as one word, without a hyphen, as longsuffering. It’s perhaps most commonly spelled this way when it’s used as a noun.Example: My long-suffering family has made so many sacrifices without complaint during this long ordeal.