sufferance

noun

ˈsə-f(ə-)rən(t)s How to pronounce sufferance (audio)
Definition of sufferancenext
1
as in permission
the approval by someone in authority for the doing of something was pointedly reminded that he was at the private beach on sufferance and could be kicked out at any time

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in patience
the capacity to endure what is difficult or disagreeable without complaining spending a whole day with my airheaded sister-in-law is beyond sufferance

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sufferance In the music of Beethoven, there is such an ethical, moral integrity … and power and sufferance. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 10 Sep. 2019 Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. — Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 26 Sep. 2025 Air India’s nationalization signaled that in independent India private enterprise would survive on the government’s sufferance. — Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021 Through his cult of personality, Modi is fulfilling a century-old project, recasting India as a Hindu nation, in which minorities, particularly Muslims, live at the sufferance of the majority. — Samanth Subramanian Vikas Adam Tanya Pérez Zachary Mouton, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sufferance
  1. permission
  2. patience
  3. authorization
  4. tolerance
  5. consent
  6. granting
Noun
  • He was granted permission to travel to New York for the event.
    — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026
  • What the Council's change adds is not access to green finance but permission to badge the whole enterprise, oil growth included, as transition.
    — Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of permission
Noun
  • Commentary and opinions More money and patience could help California’s vote count.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • The historical setting suits the filmmaker’s penchant for patience and precision, and its confounding intrigue keeps with his love of complex mind games.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 2 July 2026
Definition of patience
Noun
  • Proponents of the authorization note that the $155 million investment arrives four years after a severe drought in the Sacramento Valley in 2022 had cost local communities hundreds of millions of dollars and roughly 1,500 jobs.
    — Lyanne Wang, CBS News, 2 July 2026
  • For example, California’s prior authorization reform bill, SB 1120, passed in 2024 unanimously.
    — Miranda Yaver, The Conversation, 2 July 2026
Definition of authorization
Noun
  • For example, a person with a high tolerance with opioids would see reduced tolerance under the drug.
    — Gavin Escott, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • The state’s Holocaust Education Bill, passed in 1994, requires every school district to teach the Holocaust with the explicit aim of building tolerance, nurturing democratic values, and confronting what indifference produces.
    — Masha Pearl, Sun Sentinel, 5 July 2026
Definition of tolerance
Noun
  • That describes cases in which a broker enrolled a consumer in an ACA plan without their consent.
    — Ken Alltucker, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Earlier this month, the court struck down a Hawaii law that prohibits the carry of a firearm onto private property that is open to the public unless the property owner gives express consent.
    — Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 30 June 2026
Definition of consent
Noun
  • But, as is often the case with these kinds of monkey’s paws, the granting of a wish comes at a great cost—the wishmaker’s life.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 24 Apr. 2026
  • In this age of excess and endless wish granting, self denial becomes a superpower and a necessity.
    — Maggie Anders, Oc Register, 7 Apr. 2026
Definition of granting

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sufferable
sufferance
sufferances
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Cite this Entry

“Sufferance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sufferance. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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