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• patience
  patience

  noun

  the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
• Patience
  Patience

  noun

  a female given name.

patience

¹ American  

[pey-shuhns] / ˈpeɪ ʃəns /

noun

• patience
  plural

1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   sufferance, submissiveness, self-possession, stability, composure

2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.

   to have patience with a slow learner.

3. quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence.

   to work with patience.

   Synonyms:

   assiduity, persistence, indefatigability

4. Cards (chiefly British). solitaire.

5. Also called patience dock.  a European dock, Rumex patientia, of the buckwheat family, whose leaves are often used as a vegetable.

6. Obsolete. leave; permission; sufference.

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Patience ² American  

[pey-shuhns] / ˈpeɪ ʃəns /

noun

1. a female given name.

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patience British  

/ ˈpeɪʃəns /

noun

1. tolerant and even-tempered perseverance

2. the capacity for calmly enduring pain, trying situations, etc

3. US equivalent: solitaire.  any of various card games for one player only, in which the cards may be laid out in various combinations as the player tries to use up the whole pack

4. obsolete permission; sufferance

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patience Idioms  

1. see try one's patience.

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Synonym Usage

Patience, endurance, fortitude, stoicism imply qualities of calmness, stability, and persistent courage in trying circumstances. Patience may denote calm, self-possessed, and unrepining bearing of pain, misfortune, annoyance, or delay; or painstaking and untiring industry or (less often) application in the doing of somehing: to bear afflictions with patience. Endurance denotes the ability to bear exertion, hardship, or suffering (without implication of moral qualities required or shown): Running in a marathon requires great endurance. Fortitude implies not only patience but courage and strength of character in the midst of pain, affliction, or hardship: to show fortitude in adversity. Stoicism is calm fortitude, with such repression of emotion as to seem almost like indifference to pleasure or pain: The American Indians were noted for stoicism under torture.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superpatience
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• patience
  plural

Etymology

Origin of patience

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English pacience, from Old French, from Latin patientia. See patient, -ence

Explanation

Patience is a person's ability to wait something out or endure something tedious, without getting riled up. It takes a lot of patience to wait for your braces to come off, to deal with a toddler's temper tantrum, or to build a house out of toothpicks. Having patience means you can remain calm, even when you've been waiting forever or dealing with something painstakingly slow or trying to teach someone how to do something and they just don't get it. It involves acceptance and tolerance, and is usually easier to have when there's something in it for you at the end. That could be a goal you've been slowly working to achieve, or just lower blood pressure.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

patience Patience

There’s little patience these days from boosters, parents and fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

She thanked the people of Salford for their "patience and understanding" while emergency services dealt with the incident, adding some properties had been damaged as a result of the man's actions.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

I know what happens when you apply butter and patience to good vegetables.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Zabihullah Mujahid, the government's chief spokesman, said this month that the authorities were laying the "foundations of the economy" and that patience was needed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

But going to a music store with Fred required extreme patience.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Patience is in short supply in football these days.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Patience and trusting the process have been Matsumoto’s two guiding principles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

Patience here prevents grease pockets and keeps the texture even.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026

Patience; communication, organizational and presentation skills; the ability to distill complex ideas; and project-management skills are all qualities and skills that can be valuable in many other professions.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 9, 2026

When she was as dry as she was going to get, Natalie put on the oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants Patience had loaned her and walked back into living room.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

Related Words

• composure
• diligence
• endurance
• fortitude
• grit
• humility
• moderation
• perseverance
• persistence
• poise
• restraint
• self-control
• tolerance