endure
Americanverb (used with object)
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to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.
to endure great financial pressures with equanimity.
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to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate.
I cannot endure your insults any longer.
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to admit of; allow; bear.
His poetry is such that it will not endure a superficial reading.
verb (used without object)
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to continue to exist; last.
These words will endure as long as people live who love freedom.
- Synonyms:
- abide
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to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.
Even in the darkest ages humanity has endured.
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to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness.
His plays have endured for more than three centuries.
verb
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to undergo (hardship, strain, privation, etc) without yielding; bear
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(tr) to permit or tolerate
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(intr) to last or continue to exist
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enduresimple
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enduressimple
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have enduredperfect
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has enduredperfect
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am enduringprogressive
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are enduringprogressive
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is enduringprogressive
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have been enduringperfect progressive
-
has been enduringperfect progressive
Past
-
enduredsimple
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had enduredperfect
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was enduringprogressive
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were enduringprogressive
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had been enduringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of endure
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English enduren, from Anglo-French, Old French endurer, from Latin indūrāre “to harden, make lasting,” equivalent to in- in- 2 + dūrāre “to last, be or become hard,” derivative of dūrus “hard”
Explanation
If something endures, it lasts: Beethoven's fame has endured for more than 200 years. But if you endure something, you suffer through it: We endured our teacher's slide shows of her vacation photographs. Notice above that something that endures can be good or bad. Something you endure is always bad. And people are forever talking about what they can't or won't endure, as in "I refuse to endure any more abuse from my neighbors." Endure derives from the Latin indūrāre "to make hard," formed from the prefix in- "against, into" plus dūrus "hard."
Vocabulary lists containing endure
Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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List 5
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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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:
Although the film is a somber examination of violence, it can also be dryly funny in its depiction of what Murashige must endure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
That is the true art of the beach sandwich: building something not merely to endure the wait, but to meet you at the other end of it.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The pair endure many challenges in business but ultimately achieve considerable success.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The leadership's idea of endurance looks very different to those required to endure it.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
“There is resilience in your blood too. The willpower to endure seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Though your ancestors were once slaves, their descendants fought for equal rights.”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
At last he gets home to his family with the trophy and, as he does, his story passes into immortality as the text of a civilization that endures for almost three millennia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Sarah says she endures the long travel time as she loves running her shop.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
I am their hero, and now I am fighting to make sure the positive and real image they know of me is the one that endures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
“Chairman Greenspan’s legacy endures at the Federal Reserve—in those he mentored directly, in the economists and public servants he inspired, and in the frameworks and practices he helped shape,” the central bank said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Brother Khoi wouldn’t keep inside how he endures the hours in school, that Mother wouldn’t hide her bleeding fingers, that Brother Quang wouldn’t be so angry after work.
From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
Alex West was left harrowed by the difficult labour his wife endured for their first child.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
"We have already endured a summer of extremes -- record-shattering heat domes; apocalyptic wildfires raging in Spain, France and far beyond; thousands of lives lost in the scorching conditions," said Guterres.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Mr. Scott describes Japan’s ordinary civilians who, from 1941 to 1945, endured a mounting catastrophe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Their friendship endured after Smith Jr. retired and moved into broadcasting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Seven years ago we all went through the flames; and the happiness of some of us since then is, we think, well worth the pain we endured.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
“This debut reflects the enduring power of Marvel’s characters, and the connection they continue to have with fans around the world — and, as audiences saw, it sets up exciting things to come.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
If he loses in October, Lula would leave office without the triumphant finale he seeks, but with an enduring legacy.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Some of the melodies composed by incarcerated musicians have become enduring American tunes—as have many songs about the stories and sufferings of prisoners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
That certainly applies to Haiti, which is enduring tremendous hardship and instability.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
The noble and enduring man replied: “No god. Why take me for a god? No, no. I am that father whom your boyhood lacked and suffered pain for lack of. I am he.”
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
