tolerable

adjective

tol·​er·​a·​ble ˈtä-lə-rə-bəl How to pronounce tolerable (audio)
ˈtäl-rə-;
ˈtä-lər-bəl
1
: capable of being borne or endured
tolerable pain
2
: moderately good or agreeable : passable
a tolerable singing voice
tolerability noun
tolerably
ˈtä-lə-rə-blē How to pronounce tolerable (audio)
ˈtäl-rə-;
ˈtä-lər-blē
adverb

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 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 The water naturally flows at a balmy 140 degrees Fahrenheit, but the tubs are equipped with cool-water pipes to adjust the heat to something more tolerable. Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Jan. 2024 Looking downward to see a display was disorienting for me when using the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i but a little more tolerable on HP's device. Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 14 Dec. 2023 The first location opened in Dallas seven years ago; this Fort Worth store is the duo’s nod to the need westward for such tolerable fare. Anna Caplan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024 But that’s tolerable, given that my LCD has only 320 vertical pixels at most to display the spacecraft’s location above the surface. IEEE Spectrum, 28 Dec. 2023 While both long-standing authorizations have led to skirmishes in Congress, most members seem to find such a compromise tolerable. Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023

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 18 Mar. 2024.

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
-blē
adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on tolerable

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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