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.
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
The applicant must be an adult, "have decision-making capacity", suffer from a serious or incurable illness, and "experience constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved under conditions deemed tolerable".
From Barron's • Feb. 25, 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
That’s what made it tolerable, our sense of adventure.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
