tolerant

adjective

tol·er·ant ˈtä-lə-rənt

ˈtäl-rənt

: willing to accept the beliefs, feelings, habits, or behaviors of another group, culture, etc. as legitimate even when they differ from one's own

Despite his strong opinions, he was tolerant enough to be friends with very different kinds of people …—

Ben Sixsmith

American society progressed, leaving the bluenose mentality behind. Actually, today's tolerant values, accepting yesterday's outcasts, are more decent, fair, and humane.—

James A. Haught

Certainly the tribal nature of political and social behavior … is a key to understanding the durability of despotic regimes and the absence of tolerant pluralism.—

David K. Shipler

—often used with of

The eight-term California Republican built a reputation in House leadership … as a friendly backslapper increasingly tolerant of his party's most hardline members.—

Michael Warren and Melanie Zanona

: permitting or accepting something (such as a behavior or belief) that one does not like

tolerant parents

—often used with of

When it comes to judging friends and lovers, though, people tend not to be so tolerant of contradiction. A lover who betrays us reveals his entire character in a new and damning light. "I thought I knew you!" we cry, in a howl of anger and bewilderment.—

Edward Dolnick

The southerner is usually tolerant of those weaknesses that proceed from innocence …—

Flannery O'Connor

I am impressed, when I teach in the United States, by the readiness of students and colleagues to perform boring tasks like reading ill-written but essential texts. … British academic life, by contrast, is markedly less tolerant of tedium; French too.—

George Watson

Holmes was not prone to friendship, but he was tolerant of the big Scotchman, and smiled at the sight of him.—

Arthur Conan Doyle

… an intellectual context that was tolerant of barbarism and inhumanity, or even justified it.—

Richard Wolin

: exhibiting tolerance (see tolerance sense 4a) for something (such as a drug or an environmental factor)

The goal of allergy shots is to render a person tolerant to an allergen when it is encountered.—

Jane E. Brody

These organisms aren't just cold tolerant, they're freeze resistant.—

Robert C. Cowen

When bacteria become tolerant to these compounds, they sometimes also become less sensitive to certain antibiotic medicines.—

Coco Ballantyne

tolerantly adverb

Examples of tolerant in a Sentence

this job requires a tolerant person who is used to dealing with complaints and angry customers a tolerant acceptance of the terrible way that his wife has always treated him

Recent Examples on the Web Gill’s benevolent steadfastness is supported by his loving, tolerant wife (Shailene Woodley) but mocked by his shiftless brother (a very funny Pete Davidson), who urges him to cash in. —

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023 And aren’t Christians supposed to be kind and tolerant? —

cleveland, 12 Sep. 2023 Being there, soaking up the cultural aspects from pirate days to the writers to the tolerant lifestyle the island had, affected me. —

Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 6 Sep. 2023 The latter are cold tolerant, but no study shows selective forces at play. —

WIRED, 26 Aug. 2023 The current political and social conditions leave virtually no alternative for the regime other than to become less tolerant of even minor suspicious activities, such as any suggestion of the need to reconcile with the Ukrainians, never mind overt opposition to the war. —

Tatiana Stanovaya, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2023 Asian clams, however, are not tolerant of heavily polluted waters, Sorensen said. —

The Arizona Republic, 9 Aug. 2023 Around this time, the Kremlin became less tolerant of the warring rebel factions running around the separatist territories. —

Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023 Link is tolerant of young scholars — young and untenured scholars — who hedge. —

Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 17 July 2023 See More

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