Meaning & use
endure
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To suffer something painful or hard over a period of time without giving up.
Grammar: Takes an object: endure hardship; often a noun, not a person.
Patterns
- endure something
- endure doing something
The hikers endured freezing nights on the mountain.
She endured years of pain before the surgery.
He could not endure the noise any longer.
verbintransitiveformal
To continue to exist over a long time.
Grammar: No object: the tradition endured.
Patterns
- endure for years
The old bridge has endured for centuries.
Their friendship endured through every move.
Few songs endure beyond a single summer.
verbtransitive
To tolerate or put up with something unpleasant, usually in negative sentences.
Grammar: Often in negatives: can't endure.
Patterns
- can't endure something
- endure someone
I can't endure another meeting like that.
She endured his jokes politely.
They endured the long wait in silence.
Word forms
| third person singular | endures |
|---|---|
| past tense | endured |
| past participle | endured |
| -ing form | enduring |
Common combinations
- endure hardship
- Settlers had to endure hardship.
- endure pain
- She endured the pain without complaint.
- endure for centuries
- The temple has endured for centuries.
- patiently endure
- He patiently endured the delay.
- can't endure
- I can't endure the heat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tolerate
- Tolerate suggests putting up with something annoying, while endure suggests lasting through suffering.
- withstand
- Withstand stresses resisting force without damage, and is often used for objects.
- bear
- Bear is shorter and more common, with a similar sense of carrying a burden.
- last
- Last only describes continuing to exist, and has no sense of suffering.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: endure or ensure?
endure vs ensure
Ensure means to make certain, and looks similar but has no sense of suffering.
Practice
The villagers had to ___ a long, harsh winter without heating.
Choose one answer.
Endure means to live through hardship. Ensure and insure sound alike but mean other things.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “endure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.