tolerable

See also: tolérable

English

Alternative forms

• tollerable (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑləɹəbl̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒləɹəbl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tol‧er‧able

Adjective

tolerable (comparative more tolerable, superlative most tolerable)

1. Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured; bearable or endurable. [from the 15th c.]

   Synonyms: livable, sufferable, withstandable; see also Thesaurus:tolerable

   Antonyms: intolerable, unendurable

2. Moderate in degree; mediocre; passable, acceptable or so-so. [from 1548]

   Synonyms: lackluster, middling; adequate, good enough; see also Thesaurus:mediocre, Thesaurus:satisfactory

   Antonyms: excellent, terrible

   • 1964, European Broadcasting Union, EBU Review: Programmes, Administration, Law, volume 83, page 22:

     A cabled despatch is better than nothing, but a voicecast of tolerable quality is preferable, and in certain types of story a voicecast with live or recorded actuality is best of all.

3. Such as to be tolerated or countenanced; permissible; allowable. [from 1531]

   Synonyms: acceptable, admissible, sufferable; see also Thesaurus:permissible

   Antonyms: intolerable, unacceptable

4. In fair health; passably well.

   Synonyms: all right, fine, OK

   Antonyms: healthy as a horse, poorly

Derived terms

• intolerable
• tolerability
• tolerableness
• tolerablish
• tolerably

Related terms

• tolerance
• tolerant
• tolerate

Translations

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

• Bulgarian: поносим (bg) (ponosim)
• Catalan: tolerable (ca)
• Czech: snesitelný (cs)
• Esperanto: tolerebla
• Finnish: siedettävä (fi)
• French: tolérable (fr)
• Galician: tolerable (gl)
• Georgian: ასატანი (asaṭani)
• German: erträglich (de)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃 (sutis)
• Greek: ανεκτός (el) (anektós)

  Ancient Greek: ἀνεκτός (anektós)

• Italian: tollerabile (it)
• Latin: tolerābilis
• Polish: znośny (pl)
• Portuguese: tolerável (pt)
• Romanian: tolerabil (ro)
• Russian: выносимый (ru) (vynosimyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach
• Spanish: tolerable (es), soportable, llevadero (es), sufrible (es)
• Swedish: tolerabel (sv), dräglig (sv)
• Ukrainian: терпи́мий (terpýmyj), сте́рпний (stérpnyj)

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

• Bulgarian: приемлив (bg) (priemliv)
• Finnish: välttävä (fi)
• German: passabel (de)
• Hungarian: tűrhető (hu)
• Irish: réasúnta
• Portuguese: tolerável (pt), sofrível (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach, cuibheasach
• Spanish: aceptable (es), pasar piola
• Swedish: okej (sv), dräglig (sv), acceptabel (sv)

Such as to be tolerated or countenanced; permissible; allowable

• Bulgarian: приемлив (bg) (priemliv)
• Portuguese: tolerado

In fair health; passably well

• Bulgarian: удовлетворителен (bg) (udovletvoritelen)
• Finnish: välttävä (fi)
• Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} tolerabel (nl)

Adverb

tolerable (comparative more tolerable, superlative most tolerable)

1. (dialect) tolerably; passably; moderately.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tolerābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [tu.ləˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [to.ləˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [to.leˈɾa.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

tolerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural tolerables)

1. tolerable

   Antonym: intolerable

Derived terms

• tolerabilitat

Related terms

• tolerar

Further reading

• “tolerable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “tolerable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “tolerable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “tolerable”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Alternative forms

• tolerábel
• tolerável (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Latin tolerābilis.

Adjective

tolerable m or f (plural tolerables)

1. tolerable

   Antonym: intolerable

Related terms

• tolerar

Further reading

• “tolerable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin tolerābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /toleˈɾable/ [t̪o.leˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: to‧le‧ra‧ble

Adjective

tolerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural tolerables)

1. tolerable

   Antonym: intolerable

Derived terms

• tolerabilidad
• tolerablemente

Related terms

• tolerar

Descendants

• → Tagalog: tolerable

Further reading

• “tolerable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish tolerable.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /toleˈɾable/ [t̪o.lɛˈɾab.lɛ]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: to‧le‧rab‧le

Adjective

tolerable (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜎᜒᜇᜊ᜔ᜎᜒ)

1. tolerable

   Synonyms: mapagtitiisan, matitiis, mababata

Related terms

• tolera
• toleransiya
• tolerante
• tolerasyon