patient

American  

[pey-shuhnt] / ˈpeɪ ʃənt /

noun

patients plural

1. a person who is under medical care or treatment.

   Synonyms:

   invalid

2. a person or thing that undergoes some action.

3. Archaic. a sufferer or victim.

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adjective

1. bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   calm, passive, resigned, long-suffering, uncomplaining

   Antonyms:

   hostile

2. characterized by or expressing such a quality.

   a patient smile.

   Synonyms:

   composed, self-possessed, unexcited, unruffled, serene, quiet

   Antonyms:

   agitated, impatient

3. quietly and steadily persevering or diligent, especially in detail or exactness.

   a patient worker.

   Synonyms:

   assiduous, sedulous

4. undergoing the action of another (opposed to agent).

idioms

1. patient of,

   1. having or showing the capacity for endurance.

      a man patient of distractions.

   2. susceptible of.

      This statement is patient of criticism.

patient British  

/ ˈpeɪʃənt /

adjective

1. enduring trying circumstances with even temper

2. tolerant; understanding

3. capable of accepting delay with equanimity

4. persevering or diligent

   a patient worker

5. archaic admitting of a certain interpretation

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noun

1. a person who is receiving medical care

2. rare a person or thing that is the recipient of some action

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• patientness
  noun
• overpatient
  adjective
• patientless
  adjective
• quasi-patient
  adjective
• superpatient
  adjective
• unpatient
  adjective
• patiently
  adverb
• quasi-patiently
  adverb
• superpatiently
  adverb
• unpatiently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• patients
  plural

Etymology

Origin of patient

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English adjective and noun pacient, from Middle French, from Latin patient-, stem of patiēns, present participle of patī “to undergo, suffer, bear”; see -ent

Explanation

You are patient if you don't get frustrated or annoyed when you have to wait or deal with difficulties. The band director may show patient leadership, but a football coach uses other methods with his team. It may be difficult to wait for something that takes a long time or deal with someone who is annoying, but if you are patient, you endure these things calmly and without frustration. Endure is the keyword here as patient comes from the Latin verb pati "to suffer, endure." Think of the patient way a chess player wins a game — calmly, steadily and willing to wait for the right time to act.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

patient patients

She said she once had a patient who won a Pulitzer Prize, then immediately sank into a deep depression.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The movie touches on these themes here and there, but in the book Kip is, at times, more important than the English patient himself.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

A second ambulance was sent to recover the patient.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

“These elements are necessary to manage the health care needs of this patient population,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

It is a “cross-section of the all the world’s races and nationalities,” as patient Stanley Stein describes it.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Fontana said SDF could be particularly useful for very young children, older adults, people with developmental or physical disabilities, and patients with severe dental anxiety.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

"The difference in 2026 is that patients like me receive a more personalised treatment that target their cancer – that can make a significant difference," Lynette said.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Meanwhile, the agency last summer scuttled Capricor’s treatment for patients with advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy because it claimed its randomized control trial for patients was too small to determine definitively that the treatment worked.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

In the past 10 years the drugs have increasingly been made available to more cancer patients in Northern Ireland.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

There are 650 patients and only four nurses, he writes.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• calm
• forgiving
• gentle
• quiet
• tolerant