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

tolerability

ˌtä-lə-rə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

ˌtäl-rə-

noun

tolerably

ˈtä-lə-rə-blē 

ˈtäl-rə-;

ˈtä-lər-blē

adverb

Synonyms

• bearable
• endurable
• sufferable
• supportable
• sustainable

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

During Trump’s first term, there was level of stock market volatility the administration didn’t find tolerable, Seydl said. —Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2025

The tolerable upper intake level of magnesium is set for supplement consumption only, and should not exceed 350 milligrams daily. —Daryl Austin, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2025

Even just feeling across the keyboard with the back of my hand, the WASD keys were noticeably cooler than the (already tolerable) other portions. —PC Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025

Initial efforts to repair one of the solar arrays failed, so the astronauts entered the station on the following day and deployed a parasol to reduce internal temperatures to more tolerable levels. —Alice George, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for tolerable

• intolerable

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