bearable

American  

[bair-uh-buhl] / ˈbɛər ə bəl /

adjective

1. capable of being endured or tolerated; endurable.

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bearable British  

/ ˈbɛərəbəl /

adjective

1. endurable; tolerable

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Other Word Forms

• bearableness noun
• bearably adverb

Etymology

Origin of bearable

First recorded in 1540–50; bear ¹ + -able

Example Sentences

Mainly the trip to this trompe l’oeil house of mystery feels like a detour, though Mr. Freeman’s presence makes it bearable.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sarkozy also paid tribute to prison staff who had made his time in prison "bearable".

From BBC

In Japan, as in the U.S., a new leader wants the central bank to make government debt more bearable, which could feed inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Most of the sorties I flew were around 30 minutes long, so the discomfort was bearable. In the end, however, it was all part of the game and still enjoyable," he told me.

From BBC

Their costs at the inquests - which would eventually run to more than £63m - were only bearable because they were met by the Home Office which set up a special scheme to cover them.

From BBC

Related Words

• livable
• manageable
• passable
• satisfactory
• tolerable