What does tolerate mean?
Tolerate means to allow or accept something without strong opposition. It may describe a permissive attitude, as when a community tolerates different beliefs, or an act of endurance, as when someone tolerates pain. These uses overlap: permitting something unpleasant can require enduring its effects. The word is frequently stronger and more formal than allow because it often suggests reluctance, deliberate self-restraint, or acceptance of an unpleasant condition. It is also used in technical and medical language, including phrases concerning tolerance of pain, substances, environmental conditions, or risk. By contrast, tolerance often suggests a broader, more positive capacity to accept people whose customs or opinions differ. The distinction between tolerate and tolerate is grammatical rather than substantial: tolerate is a verb, while tolerance is a noun and tolerant is an adjective. Overall, tolerate expresses acceptance that may be admirable, practical, or merely reluctant, but it rarely implies wholehearted enthusiasm.
verbTo allow something or someone to exist or happen without resistance or serious objection. It can also mean to endure an unpleasant situation or condition.
- To allow someone or something to exist, behave, or occur without objection or interference.
- To endure or accept an unpleasant situation, condition, or experience.
"A tolerant community does not simply tolerate difference; it welcomes the contribution it can make."
"The design was intended to tolerate small changes in temperature."
"She could tolerate the discomfort long enough to finish the race."
Tolerate comes from the Latin tolerare, meaning “to endure or bear,” a root that also gave English its words for tolerance and tolerance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tolerate come from?
English borrowed tolerate from the Latin verb tolerare, “to endure, bear, or tolerate,” during the late medieval period. The Latin word is the source of several English derivatives, including tolerable, tolerance, tolerant, and intolerable, reflecting both acceptance and the limits of what can be borne.
Related word forms
How tolerate is actually used
The word is neutral in register but often carries a slightly negative implication when it means allowing something one may prefer to prevent. In the sense of enduring discomfort, it is common in formal, medical, and technical contexts.
Easily confused with tolerate
Tolerate is a verb meaning to allow or endure something, whereas tolerable is an adjective describing something that can be accepted without serious harm.