tolerable
adjective
tol·er·a·ble
ˈtä-lə-rə-bəl 
ˈtäl-rə-;
ˈtä-lər-bəl
1
: capable of being borne or endured
tolerable pain
2
: moderately good or agreeable : passable
a tolerable singing voice
Synonyms
Examples of tolerable in a Sentence
The heat was tolerable for only a short time.
stubbing your toe is at least a more tolerable pain than breaking your foot
Recent Examples on the Web
No Doubt and Sublime reunited, Taylor Swift partied with Ice Spice, Olivia Rodrigo, Childish Gambino, Will Smith, Billie Eilish and A$AP Rocky all made surprise appearances during their friends’ sets and, thankfully, the weather topped out in the tolerable low 90s.
—
Spin Staff, SPIN, 15 Apr. 2024
Biden on Wednesday highlighted his legislative achievements and executive actions that have curbed costs as part of his plan to get price increases back to tolerable pre-pandemic levels.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
What’s a tolerable balance of crank and good Samaritan?
—Wesley Morris Ron Butler Emma Kehlbeck Ted Blaisdell, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Millennia later, archaeologists measured mercury in the bones of these women and others from their community, revealing values orders of magnitude higher than what health experts consider tolerable today.
—Bridget Alex, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024
Also, afternoon rain showers are frequent (but short-lived) in Hawaii, so having a light jacket or additional piece of clothing can make those five minutes of rain more tolerable.
—Erin Johnson, Travel + Leisure, 21 Feb. 2024
The tolerable upper intake level (UL) is 40 milligrams daily for adults.
—Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
Those costs might have been tolerable if the tariffs had accomplished their main goal, which was to protect and promote manufacturing jobs in the United States.
—Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024
What came out of that kitchen, not merely pleasingly tolerable but actually, actively nice, threw my sense of the proper order of things into disarray.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2024
Spin Staff, SPIN, 15 Apr. 2024
Biden on Wednesday highlighted his legislative achievements and executive actions that have curbed costs as part of his plan to get price increases back to tolerable pre-pandemic levels.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
What’s a tolerable balance of crank and good Samaritan?
—Wesley Morris Ron Butler Emma Kehlbeck Ted Blaisdell, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Millennia later, archaeologists measured mercury in the bones of these women and others from their community, revealing values orders of magnitude higher than what health experts consider tolerable today.
—Bridget Alex, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024
Also, afternoon rain showers are frequent (but short-lived) in Hawaii, so having a light jacket or additional piece of clothing can make those five minutes of rain more tolerable.
—Erin Johnson, Travel + Leisure, 21 Feb. 2024
The tolerable upper intake level (UL) is 40 milligrams daily for adults.
—Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
Those costs might have been tolerable if the tariffs had accomplished their main goal, which was to protect and promote manufacturing jobs in the United States.
—Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024
What came out of that kitchen, not merely pleasingly tolerable but actually, actively nice, threw my sense of the proper order of things into disarray.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tolerable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of tolerable was
in the 15th century
Dictionary Entries Near tolerable
Cite this Entry
“Tolerable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tolerable. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
tolerable
adjective
tol·er·able
ˈtäl-(ə-)rə-bəl,
ˈtäl-ər-bəl
1
: capable of being put up with
tolerable pain
2
: fairly good
a tolerable singing voice
tolerably
adverb
-blē
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