tolerable
Americanadjective
-
capable of being tolerated; endurable.
His arrogance is no longer tolerable.
- Synonyms:
- supportable, bearable
-
fairly good; not bad.
- Synonyms:
- so-so, indifferent, middling, passable
-
Informal. in fair health.
adjective
-
able to be tolerated; endurable
-
permissible
-
informal fairly good
Other Word Forms
- nontolerable adjective
- nontolerableness noun
- nontolerably adverb
- tolerability noun
- tolerableness noun
- tolerably adverb
- untolerable adjective
- untolerableness noun
- untolerably adverb
Etymology
Origin of tolerable
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin tolerābilis, equivalent to tolerā ( re ) to endure + -bilis -ble
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.
She became the woman who, more than perhaps any one other person, made California’s air tolerable, if not technically healthy, and revved up the state’s climate and greenhouse gas policies.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
Unless ocean temperatures return to more tolerable levels, bleached corals are unable to recover and eventually die of starvation.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
One of these companies has a slightly more tolerable vision than the rest, although it’s fair to question whether any one of these ideals could ever vanquish the others.
From Slate • Feb. 10, 2026
We are quite more tolerable when they start telling us the truth by agreeing with us.
From Salon • Feb. 6, 2026
“I wish we could contrive it,” said she; “but I cannot think of any tolerable pretence for going in;—no servant that I want to inquire about of his housekeeper—no message from my father.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
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.
