tolerant
Americanadjective
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inclined or disposed to tolerate; showing tolerance; forbearing.
tolerant of errors.
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favoring toleration.
a tolerant church.
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Medicine/Medical, Immunology.
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able to endure or resist the action of a drug, poison, etc.
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lacking or exhibiting low levels of immune response to a normally immunogenic substance.
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adjective
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able to tolerate the beliefs, actions, opinions, etc, of others
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permissive
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able to withstand extremes, as of heat and cold
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med (of a patient) exhibiting tolerance to a drug
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tolerant
First recorded in 1770–80; from Latin tolerant-, stem of tolerāns “bearing,” present participle of tolerāre “to bear”; see tolerate
Explanation
If you're tolerant it means that you accept people who are unlike you or put up with stuff you don't like. If you let your roommate play the same awful '80s mix over and over and don't say anything, you're probably a very tolerant person. Broad-minded and open thinking is a hallmark of tolerant behavior. An individual can be tolerant, and so can a community or a nation if it accepts people from lots of different cultures or backgrounds. We generally think of tolerance as a good thing, but that doesn't mean being tolerant is easy — not with so many family members, classmates, and colleagues around to annoy us.
Vocabulary lists containing tolerant
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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.
At other times, he hasn’t been as tolerant, saying in a social-media post in late August that communities will “end up being backwards and poor” if they don’t welcome data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
These mice also became less tolerant of stress as adults.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Affecting a tough-guy realism, Mr. Bockino is contemptuous of antigambling officials in the era before legalization and tolerant of the worst rogues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The incident has led to a debate online over how tolerant airlines should be to travelling families, and how strictly parents should enforce airline rules.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Afterward, we’ll return to America on the brink of a new school year and share our new diaries, forge new paths, and continue doing whatever we can to create a peaceful and tolerant world.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
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.
