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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sufferance
Every page is alive with animus, ardor, humor, sufferance, with venom for death and its posturing acolytes:
Anyone who has not killed is not a man: This sentence, which Hemingway fashioned, means nothing at all.
—
Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
Matchday was a sufferance, the opposite of life-affirming.
—George Caulkin, The Athletic, 10 July 2024
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
The Kirk Douglas, the smallest of the company’s three venues and ostensibly the most experimental, is the scrappy Culver City orphan, living at the sufferance of its older siblings at L.A.’s Music Center.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2023
Air India’s nationalization signaled that in independent India private enterprise would survive on the government’s sufferance.
—Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021
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 these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
—Thomas Jefferson Et Al, Cincinnati.com, 4 July 2018
Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
Matchday was a sufferance, the opposite of life-affirming.
—George Caulkin, The Athletic, 10 July 2024
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
The Kirk Douglas, the smallest of the company’s three venues and ostensibly the most experimental, is the scrappy Culver City orphan, living at the sufferance of its older siblings at L.A.’s Music Center.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2023
Air India’s nationalization signaled that in independent India private enterprise would survive on the government’s sufferance.
—Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021
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 these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
—Thomas Jefferson Et Al, Cincinnati.com, 4 July 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sufferance
Noun
-
Still, many members of the church don’t want to stop attending Mass even if leaders give them permission.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 July 2025
-
Reprinted with permission from Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.—
Ekow Eshun
July 11,
Literary Hub,
11 July 2025
Noun
-
Despite her patience, civility, and willingness to compromise, she’s left second-guessing herself.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
6 July 2025
-
And yet his patience had already been tested by the sixty-seven-year-old Mark Geragos, defense attorney to the stars, who was serving as an unofficial adviser to Combs’s legal team.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
3 July 2025
Noun
-
Deloitte’s Connected Consumer survey echoes the tension: Enthusiasm for generative AI co-exists with a demand for transparency, accountability and explicit consent.—
Boris Dzhingarov,
Forbes.com,
15 July 2025
-
The National Guard and the Marines have been called in without state consent.—
Larry David,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
Noun
-
Both stimulate new growth but this is the time for slow growth so plants adapt to drought tolerance. • Use a sharp spray of water to clean plant leaves of dust, dirt, aphids, white flies and spider mites, whose presence is evident by tiny webs on leaves and stems.—
Nan Sterman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 July 2025
-
Stonecrops are known for their heat and drought tolerance.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
4 July 2025
Noun
-
The wastewater testing program would need authorization from the legislature.—
Vivian Jones,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
-
In 2020, then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr authorized prosecutors to seek the death penalty against the Saenz brothers, but President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, withdrew that authorization in November 2023.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sufferance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sufferance. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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