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

The tolerable upper level intake (UL) for vitamin A for adults is 3,000 mcg RAE per day. —Elizabeth Barnes, Verywell Health, 19 Feb. 2025

Better news: Audiences on Thursday night gave it a tolerable 79% on RT. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 14 Feb. 2025

Looking at that list tells me that tweaking existing spending programs and taxes in moderate, tolerable ways could achieve the 3% of GDP deficit goal without unacceptable pain. —Ray Dalio, TIME, 13 Feb. 2025

That’s made all the more difficult, yet more tolerable, by Black Attack (Hannan Younis) being her invisible hype girl. —Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 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