Meanings
verbtolerate (third-person singular simple present tolerates, present participle tolerating, simple past and past participle tolerated)
present singular third person tolerates · participle present tolerating · participle past tolerated · past tolerated
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo allow or permit without explicit approval, usually if it is perceived as negative.
Similar
Narrower
More synonyms by meaning
verbput up with something or somebody unpleasant
verballow the presence of or allow (an activity) without opposing or prohibiting
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintolerātus
- Englishtolerate
Borrowed from Latin tolerātus, the perfect passive participle of tolerō (“to endure”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with Old English þolian (“to tolerate, suffer, bear”) and French tolérer. More at thole.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِحْتَمَلَ
- اِحْتَمَلَ (iḥtamala)To allow without explicit approval
Bulgarian толерирам, търпя
- толерирам (toleriram)To allow without explicit approval
- търпя (tărpja)To allow without explicit approval
Catalan tolerar, suportar
- tolerarTo allow without explicit approval
- suportarTo allow without explicit approval
Chinese Cantonese 忍受, 捱
- 忍受 (jan² sau⁶)To allow without explicit approval
- 捱 (ngaai⁴)To allow without explicit approval
Chinese Mandarin 忍受, 熬
- 忍受 (rěnshòu)To allow without explicit approval
- 熬 (áo)To allow without explicit approval
Czech tolerovat
- tolerovatTo allow without explicit approval
Dutch verdragen, tolereren
- verdragenTo allow without explicit approval
- tolererenTo allow without explicit approval
- toelatenTo allow without explicit approval
- duldenTo allow without explicit approval
- gedogenTo allow without explicit approval
Finnish suvaita, sietää
- suvaitaTo allow without explicit approval
- sietääTo allow without explicit approval
French tolérer, supporter
- tolérerTo allow without explicit approval
- supporterTo allow without explicit approval
- souffrirTo allow without explicit approval
German tolerieren, dulden
- tolerierenTo allow without explicit approval
- duldenTo allow without explicit approval
- vertragenTo allow without explicit approval
Greek ανέχομαι, ανέχομαι
- ανέχομαι (anéchomai)To allow without explicit approval
- ανέχομαι (anéchomai)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
Hebrew סָבַל
- סָבַל (savál)To allow without explicit approval
Hindi सहना
- सहना (sahnā)To allow without explicit approval
Irish cuir suas le
- cuir suas leTo allow without explicit approval
Italian tollerare, sopportare
- tollerareTo allow without explicit approval
- sopportareTo allow without explicit approval
- accettareTo allow without explicit approval
Japanese 黙認する
- 黙認する (mokunin-surú)To allow without explicit approval
Korean 참는다
- 참는다 (chamneunda)To allow without explicit approval
Latin tolerō
- tolerōTo allow without explicit approval
Norwegian tolerere, tåle
- tolerereTo allow without explicit approval
- tåleTo allow without explicit approval
Persian تاویدن, تاوستن
- تاویدن (tāvidan)To allow without explicit approval
- تاوستن (tāvestan)To allow without explicit approval
Polish tolerować
- tolerowaćTo allow without explicit approval
Portuguese tolerar, aguentar
- tolerarTo allow without explicit approval
- aguentarTo allow without explicit approval
- suportarTo allow without explicit approval
Romanian tolera, suporta
- toleraTo allow without explicit approval
- suportaTo allow without explicit approval
- îngăduiTo allow without explicit approval
Russian терпе́ть, вы́терпеть
- терпе́ть (terpétʹ)To allow without explicit approval
- вы́терпеть (výterpetʹ)To allow without explicit approval
- допуска́ть (dopuskátʹ)To allow without explicit approval
- допусти́ть (dopustítʹ)To allow without explicit approval
- толери́ровать (tolerírovatʹ)To allow without explicit approval
- терпе́ть (terpétʹ)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- потерпе́ть (poterpétʹ)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- вы́терпеть (výterpetʹ)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- сноси́ть (snosítʹ)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- снести́ (snestí)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- толери́ровать (tolerírovatʹ)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
Spanish tolerar, soportar
- tolerarTo allow without explicit approval
- soportarTo allow without explicit approval
- aguantarTo allow without explicit approval
Swedish tolerera
- tolereraTo allow without explicit approval
Tamil தாங்கு, சகி
- தாங்கு (tāṅku)To allow without explicit approval
- சகி (caki)To allow without explicit approval
- பொறு (poṟu)To allow without explicit approval
Ukrainian допуска́ти, допусти́ти
- допуска́ти (dopuskáty)To allow without explicit approval
- допусти́ти (dopustýty)To allow without explicit approval
- толерува́ти (toleruváty)To allow without explicit approval
- терпі́ти (terpíty)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- потерпі́ти (poterpíty)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- зно́сити (znósyty)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- знести́ (znestý)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
- толерува́ти (toleruváty)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
Vietnamese chịu đựng
- chịu đựngTo allow without explicit approval
Yiddish טאָלערירן, טאָלערירן
- טאָלערירן (tolerirn)To allow without explicit approval
- טאָלערירן (tolerirn)to bear, withstand — see also bear, put up with, stand
Cite this entry
APA
tolerate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tolerate
MLA
“tolerate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tolerate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tolerate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tolerate.
Source: tolerate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.