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
Etymology
Origin of tolerable
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin tolerābilis, equivalent to tolerā ( re ) to endure + -bilis -ble
Explanation
Something that's tolerable is something you're able to live with. The best thing you can say about sleeping in a tent with your younger siblings might be that it's tolerable. If you can tolerate something, or put up with it, it's tolerable. You can also use this adjective to mean "good enough" or "adequate." If your waiter asks how your meal is and you answer, "The pizza is tolerable," you're not giving a rave review; you're basically saying, "It's average" or "It's edible, but nothing special." Tolerable comes from the Latin tolerabilis, "that may be endured."
Vocabulary lists containing tolerable
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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Farewell to Manzanar
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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.
Not because spices make cheap food merely tolerable, but because they’re often the difference between a meal that feels like compromise and one you genuinely crave again a few days later.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
That was tolerable when officials thought the Iran war would resolve quickly.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
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
On the gentlemen’s appearing, her colour increased; yet she received them with tolerable ease, and with a propriety of behaviour equally free from any symptom of resentment or any unnecessary complaisance.
From "Pride and Prejudice" 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.
