on sufferance

Idioms  

1. Barely tolerated; agreed to but unwillingly. For example, They rarely put a non-academic on the panel, so obviously I was there on sufferance. This expression uses sufferance in the sense of “toleration,” a usage obsolete except in this idiom. [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

It is a story about who gets to go where, who gets to exist safely in public, and who is only there on sufferance.

From Washington Post

“The message they are getting is, ‘You are here on sufferance,’” he added.

From New York Times

They do have a certain adherence to the idea that this is the national homeland of Hindus, and everybody else is a second-class citizen, here only on sufferance.

From The New Yorker

What was worse, Lola had made it clear that she too would be acting on sufferance.

From Literature

The Maybot would be allowed to continue on sufferance, primarily because there weren’t any obviously more capable candidates.

From The Guardian