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

More worrisome is the fact that T boosters often contain excessive amounts of minerals and vitamins—in some cases, up to 9 times the upper tolerable intake level (UL) established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). —James Myhre & Dennis Sifris, Md, Verywell Health, 3 Sep. 2024

And with average ransom payments reaching $2 million this year, the consequences of a successful attack are not tolerable. —Raja Patel, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024

Heck, even an A-C-C format would be tolerable in the sport’s new era. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2024

That, combined with inflation that’s back down to more tolerable levels and expectations that the Federal Reserve will start lowering interest rates this fall, seemed to open up room for a little more optimism. —Evan Clark, WWD, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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