suffer

[suhf-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR suffer ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to undergo or feel pain or distress: The patient is still suffering.

to sustain injury, disadvantage, or loss: One's health suffers from overwork. The business suffers from lack of capital.

to undergo a penalty, as of death: The traitor was made to suffer on the gallows.

to endure pain, disability, death, etc., patiently or willingly.

verb (used with object)

to undergo, be subjected to, or endure (pain, distress, injury, loss, or anything unpleasant): to suffer the pangs of conscience.

to undergo or experience (any action, process, or condition): to suffer change.

to tolerate or allow: I do not suffer fools gladly.

Origin of suffer

1200–50; Middle English suff(e)ren < Latin sufferre, equivalent to suf- suf- + ferre to bear¹; compare Old French sofrir < Vulgar Latin *sufferīre

Related formssuf·fer·a·ble, adjectivesuf·fer·a·ble·ness, nounsuf·fer·a·bly, adverbsuf·fer·er, nounnon·suf·fer·a·ble, adjectivenon·suf·fer·a·ble·ness, nounnon·suf·fer·a·bly, adverbout·suf·fer, verb (used with object)pre·suf·fer, verbun·suf·fer·a·ble, adjectiveun·suf·fer·a·ble·ness, nounun·suf·fer·a·bly, adverb

Synonyms for suffer

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR suffer ON THESAURUS.COM

5. sustain. 7. stomach, stand, abide.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sufferable

acceptable, admissible, allowable, endurable, livable, manageable, passable, satisfactory, supportable, tolerable, sustainable

Examples from the Web for sufferable

Historical Examples of sufferable

It is so difficult to condole in a manner at all sufferable.
Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3)
William Davy Watson
Lady Ann was offended, and seriously: was alliance with such a woman permissible or sufferable?
There and Back
George MacDonald
Your Madame must be insufferable indeed, seeing that her knowledge of these subjects and men did not make her sufferable to you.
The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2)
Frederic G. Kenyon
Even Bully Pigeon was sufferable (as Paddy observed), if he was not altogether agreeable.
The Three Midshipmen
W.H.G. Kingston
Yet no man will, at this day, pretend that the Greek of his prize ode is sufferable.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845
Various

British Dictionary definitions for sufferable

sufferable

adjective

able to be tolerated or suffered; endurable

Derived Formssufferably, adverb

suffer

verb

to undergo or be subjected to (pain, punishment, etc)

(tr) to undergo or experience (anything)to suffer a change of management

(intr) to be set at a disadvantagethis author suffers in translation

to be prepared to endure (pain, death, etc)he suffers for the cause of freedom

(tr) archaic to permit (someone to do something)suffer the little children to come unto me

suffer from

to be ill with, esp recurrently
to be given tohe suffers from a tendency to exaggerate

Derived Formssufferer, noun

Word Origin for suffer

C13: from Old French soffrir, from Latin sufferre, from sub- + ferre to bear

usage

It is better to avoid using the words suffer and sufferer in relation to chronic illness or disability. They may be considered demeaning and disempowering. Suitable alternative are have, experience, be diagnosed with

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sufferable

adj.

mid-14c., "allowed, permissible;" late 14c., "able to be endured," from Anglo-French, Old French souffrable and Anglo-Latin sufferabilis; see suffer + -able.

suffer

early 13c., "to be made to undergo, endure" (pain, death, punishment, judgment, grief), from Anglo-French suffrir, Old French sufrir, from Vulgar Latin *sufferire, variant of Latin sufferre "to bear, undergo, endure, carry or put under," from sub "up, under" (see sub-) + ferre "to carry" (see infer).

Replaced Old English þolian, þrowian. Meaning "to meekly submit to hardship" is from late 13c. That of "to undergo" (distress, suffering, etc.) is mid-14c. Meaning "to tolerate, allow" something to occur or continue is recorded from mid-13c. Related: Suffered; suffering.

Idioms and Phrases with sufferable

suffer

see not suffer fools gladly.