endure

[en-door, -dyoor]

verb (used with object)

endured, enduring 

1. to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.

   to endure great financial pressures with equanimity.

2. to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate.

   I cannot endure your insults any longer.

   Synonyms: brook, suffer, support, stand

3. to admit of; allow; bear.

   His poetry is such that it will not endure a superficial reading.

verb (used without object)

endured, enduring 

1. to continue to exist; last.

   These words will endure as long as people live who love freedom.

   Synonyms: abide
   Antonyms: die, fail

2. to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.

   Even in the darkest ages humanity has endured.

3. to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness.

   His plays have endured for more than three centuries.

endure

/ ɪnˈdjʊə /

verb

1. to undergo (hardship, strain, privation, etc) without yielding; bear

2. (tr) to permit or tolerate

3. (intr) to last or continue to exist

Other Word Forms

• endurer noun
• unendured adjective
• endurability noun
• endurable adjective
• endurably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of endure¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English enduren, from Anglo-French, Old French endurer, from Latin indūrāre “to harden, make lasting,” equivalent to in- in- ² + dūrāre “to last, be or become hard,” derivative of dūrus “hard”

Word History and Origins

Origin of endure¹

C14: from Old French endurer, from Latin indūrāre to harden, from dūrus hard

Synonym Study

See bear ¹. See continue.

Example Sentences

In the decade since his retirement in 2015, America has endured enough material for a lifetime’s worth of political cartooning.

From Salon

"His family have had to endure repeated investigation and examination of his body and a significant delay to putting their loved one to rest," she added.

From BBC

If there is a positive for England to take from this, it was the innings of Bethell, who has endured a curious summer.

From BBC

Paul, not his real name, said the abuse he endured at the hands of Lavery started when he was 12.

From BBC

He said this year's anniversary had also been the first his family had to endure without either of his parents, who both died in the past couple of years.

From BBC

Related Words

• brave 
• encounter 
• experience 
• face 
• feel 
• go through 
• know 
• ride out 
• suffer 
• sustain 
• tolerate 
• undergo 
• weather 
• withstand