countenancing

verb

present participle of countenance
1
as in accepting
to have a favorable opinion of I don't countenance such behavior in children of any age

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tolerating
to put up with (something painful or difficult) countenanced the delays and inconveniences of traveling by air with good grace

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 countenancing The castrato was proud to call himself the boy’s father, never publicly countenancing the reality that this was impossible. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for countenancing
  1. accepting
  2. tolerating
  3. handling
  4. standing
  5. enduring
  6. taking
  7. sustaining
Verb
  • These fees aren’t a profit grab by the banks but a way for merchants to recoup the costs of accepting credit cards.
    — Liz Weston, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2026
  • Investors are demanding stronger profits after initially accepting a steep drop from Niccol’s in-store investments.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 26 July 2026
Definition of accepting
Verb
  • The Steamfitters were staging protests outside the Pfizer site, accusing the MetroLoft — which employs a mix of union and nonunion contractors — of building on the cheap and tolerating unsafe work conditions.
    — Andrew Rice, Curbed, 23 July 2026
  • Women who are actively seeking new employment show narrower pay gaps than those who stay, which means the ones tolerating the widest gaps are often trading fair pay for flexibility or job security.
    — Kara Dennison, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of tolerating
Verb
  • The demonstration highlights how humanoids could take over repetitive material-handling tasks while fitting into existing industrial workflows.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 27 July 2026
  • And the two meteorologists working that night were handling multiple incidents at once.
    — Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 27 July 2026
Definition of handling
Verb
  • Piedmont Park Arts Festival This long-standing arts festival brings out more than 250 sculptors, painters, leatherworkers, glass blowers, jewelers and more.
    — Elizabeth Green, AJC.com, 30 July 2026
  • The effort also targets a long-standing weakness in the domestic industrial base, where defense officials have repeatedly identified precision cast components as a production bottleneck for military propulsion programs.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 30 July 2026
Definition of standing
Verb
  • What makes the deceptively simple Negroni one of the world’s most enduring classic cocktails?
    — Mark Littler, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • Keegan later moved into management, revitalizing Newcastle ​United and taking ​the club to ⁠the brink of the Premier League title in the mid-1990s before enduring a more difficult spell as England manager.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
Definition of enduring
Verb
  • In the Madrid region alone, 6,000 hectares (23 square miles) burnt overnight, taking the total area scorched in that region to 34,000 hectares (131 square miles) in just the last few days, Ayuso said.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 July 2026
  • There's Volta, a sheltered offering that wraps around the lobby, and Parostia (taking its name from the stone oven of traditional Parian houses), sandwiched between the pool area and the beach.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 July 2026
Definition of taking
Verb
  • The company pointed to research from the UK AI Security Institute showing that advanced models are increasingly capable of sustaining complex, multi-step cyber operations over extended periods.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 July 2026
  • It is found in building the enduring capacity of leaders and teams to adapt while sustaining performance.
    — Tony Gambill, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of sustaining

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Cite this Entry

“Countenancing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/countenancing. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on countenancing

Nglish: Translation of countenancing for Spanish Speakers

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