tolerates

verb

present tense third-person singular of tolerate
1
as in lets
to fail to prevent (some behavior on someone's part) especially from neglect or indifference my boss simply doesn't tolerate tardiness

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in accepts
to put up with (something painful or difficult) suffering a terrible headache, the poor woman couldn't tolerate all the noise the neighbors were making

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 tolerates Ye-ji has a hunky hedge-fund-type husband, Sang-woo (Zo In-sung), who condescendingly tolerates, but doesn’t finance, his wife’s cinematic caprices. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026 Even if your skin generally tolerates exfoliation well, dermatologists warn that AHAs can increase sun sensitivity, making your skin more vulnerable to UV damage. — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 21 Oct. 2026 Start with a small glass (about 4 ounces) and gradually increase as your body tolerates it. — Lindsey Desoto, HEALTH, 13 Oct. 2026 Scientists have long marveled at how the human body tolerates extreme heat — and what that means for our health. — Will Stone, NPR, 11 Oct. 2026 That also suggests the league accepts, or at least tolerates, the flag-heavy officiating that has come to define the early months of the season. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Vietnam's communist government tolerates little dissent and tightly controls the media. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026 Temperature and Humidity ‘Kaleidoscope’ Abelia tolerates the heat and humidity of Southern landscapes. — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2026 Our criminal system deliberately places the burden on the government and tolerates the possibility that guilty people will go free rather than lower the standard required to convict. — Monu Bedi, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tolerates
  1. lets
  2. accepts
  3. ignores
  4. endures
  5. allows
  6. stands
  7. permits
  8. handles
Verb
  • Forgotten Bakery also lets its customers craft their own bagel sandwiches.
    — Emma Hall, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Stokes recommends that users turn off the option that lets Meta train its AI on conversations, and periodically review what the assistant has saved about them.
    — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of lets
Verb
  • That Kushner even managed to secure agrément, whereby a state accepts a foreign ambassador’s nomination, was a little miracle of American hegemony.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Who accepts the remaining risk, and when will it be reviewed?
    — Aliasgar Dohadwala, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of accepts
Verb
  • Is Jan Crawford meant to adhere to standards while the editor-in-chief consistently ignores them?
    — Daniel Strauss, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2026
  • In Bethany Joy Lenz’s debut fiction novel, a painter spends her days honoring ordinary women the world overlooked — ones whose deaths were caused or enabled by a system that ignores them.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of ignores
Verb
  • The point is to capture love and humanity that endures in the face of that extreme violence.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The camaraderie endures even in success, and is palpable in a viral clip from June of the cast watching and then raucously celebrating as the New York Knicks pulled off an electric comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of endures
Verb
  • However, quantum mechanics allows electrons to move between bands through a process known as tunneling.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
  • The most common and most aggressive form of these 287(g) partnerships, the Task Force Model, allows police and sheriff's departments to make immigration arrests.
    — Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of allows
Verb
  • What to do nearby Numbered lifeguard stands serve as landmarks on Rio de Janeiro’s beaches, and at the southern end of Copacabana, the Fairmont puts you close to Posto 6.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Oct. 2026
  • If built, the tower would top Fort Lauderdale’s current tallest building 100 Las Olas, which stands 499 feet and 10 inches high.
    — Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of stands
Verb
  • The prohibition on gathering ramps extends to the Eastern Band of Cherokee, though a recent agreement with the National Park Service permits several dozen members to gather sochan within park boundaries.
    — Tovar Cerulli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The ordinance permits Highfill to apply excess bond proceeds to retire debt early if construction costs come in below projections, and the city holds the option to call and prepay bonds without penalty starting June 1, 2033.
    — Randy Moll, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of permits
Verb
  • What locked chats don’t do Locking a chat changes where a conversation appears and how it’s opened—not how OpenAI handles it.
    — Fernanda Tronco, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Research a potential lender's track record — its Better Business Bureau rating and customer reviews can give you a sense of how a lender handles applications, payments and problems that arise after borrowing.
    — Dan Avery, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of handles

Browse Nearby Words

tolerated
tolerates
tolerating
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tolerates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tolerates. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All