inure

verb

in·ure i-ˈnu̇r

-ˈnyu̇r

variants or less commonly enure

i-ˈnu̇r

-ˈnyu̇r,

inured; inuring

Synonyms of inure next

transitive verb

: to accustom to accept something undesirable

children inured to violence

intransitive verb

: to become of advantage

policies that inure to the benefit of employees

inurement

i-ˈnu̇r-mənt

-ˈnyu̇r

noun

Examples of inure in a Sentence

Does violence on television inure children to violence in real life? the hardship of army training inured her to the rigors of desert warfare

Recent Examples on the Web Neither free day care nor a night off from doing the dishes can inure her to how her child’s pain can, by shaping his identity, shape hers. —

Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023 This mindset is ripe for shaping by political tribalism, which amplifies closed belief systems, inuring them from outside remediation. —

Phil Plait, Scientific American, 14 Sep. 2023 Mass shootings occur with such frequency that Americans seem inured to a brutal reality where the unstable and aggrieved can buy a gun as easily as a bag of chips. —

Sabrina Haake, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2023 California is inured to the firestorms and mudslides that have been especially devastating in recent years. —

Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2023 But even passengers inured to the T’s woeful recent performance struggle with the uncertainty of when things will improve. —

Taylor Dolven, BostonGlobe.com, 26 July 2023 After years of enduring massive body counts that have inured many of us to the deaths even of elementary school children, being there was profoundly disorienting. —

Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2023 Something about that juxtaposition—Aristotle in the mornings, clumsy pots of dal in the evenings—has inured me to all visions of moral philosophy as a simple variety of self-help. —

Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023 Although our incarceration rate leads the world, we’re inured to the irony that the land of the free is also the empire of the jailed. —

Ron Charles, Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inure.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English enuren, from in ure customary, from putten in ure to use, put into practice, partial translation of Anglo-French mettre en ovre, en uevre

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler

The first known use of inure was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century