Standard Lemma guide

tolerable

adj · adv · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈtɑləɹəbl̩/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɒləɹəbl̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T AA1 L ER0 AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: livable, sufferable, withstandable

Antonyms: intolerable, unendurable

2

adj

Meaning 2

Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lackluster, middling, adequate, good enough, average, comme ci comme ça, crappy, decent, indifferent, meh, mediocre, mid, no great shakes, nothing to write home about, not worth writing home about, OK, okayish, ordinary, pedestrian, unexceptional, uninspiring, shitty, so-so, tolerable, whatever, acceptable, all right, close enough, close enough for government work, close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades, favoursome, fair, fine, jake, good enough for government work, hunky dory, kosher, mustn't grumble, nonbad, not bad, not half bad, okay, passable, pretty good, up to par, up to scratch, up to snuff, reasonable, respectable, satisfactory, snug, sufficient, suitable, tickety-boo

Antonyms: excellent, terrible

3

adj

Meaning 3

Such as to be tolerated or countenanced; permissible; allowable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: acceptable, admissible, sufferable, abideable, allowable, permissible, supportable, tolerable

Antonyms: intolerable, unacceptable

4

adj

Meaning 4

In fair health; passably well.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: all right, fine, OK

Antonyms: healthy as a horse, poorly

5

adv

Meaning 5

tolerably; passably; moderately.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

capable of being borne or endured

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the climate is at least tolerable

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: intolerable

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

about average; acceptable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • more than adequate as a secretary

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: adequate, passable, fair to middling

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English tolerable, borrowed from Middle French tolerable, from Latin tolerābilis.

Across languages

Translations

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: поносим (ponosim) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Catalan: tolerable — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Czech: snesitelný — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Esperanto: tolerebla — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Finnish: siedettävä — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • French: tolérable — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Galician: tolerable — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Georgian: ასატანი (asaṭani) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • German: erträglich — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Gothic: 𐍃𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃 (sutis) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Greek: ανεκτός (anektós) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Ancient Greek: ἀνεκτός (anektós) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Italian: tollerabile — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Latin: tolerābilis — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Polish: znośny — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Portuguese: tolerável — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Romanian: tolerabil — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Russian: выносимый (vynosimyj) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Spanish: tolerable — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Spanish: soportable — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Spanish: llevadero — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Spanish: sufrible — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Swedish: tolerabel — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Swedish: dräglig — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Ukrainian: терпи́мий (terpýmyj) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Ukrainian: сте́рпний (stérpnyj) — Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable
  • Bulgarian: приемлив (priemliv) — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Finnish: välttävä — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • German: passabel — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Hungarian: tűrhető — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Irish: réasúnta — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Portuguese: tolerável — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Portuguese: sofrível — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Scottish Gaelic: cuibheasach — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Spanish: aceptable — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Spanish: pasar piola — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Swedish: okej — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Swedish: dräglig — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Swedish: acceptabel — Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so
  • Bulgarian: приемлив (priemliv) — Such as to be tolerated or countenanced; permissible; allowable
  • Portuguese: tolerado — Such as to be tolerated or countenanced; permissible; allowable
  • Bulgarian: удовлетворителен (udovletvoritelen) — In fair health; passably well
  • Finnish: välttävä — In fair health; passably well
  • Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach — In fair health; passably well