as in patient
accepting pains or hardships calmly or without complaint
she was inspired by the forbearing patients of the intensive care unit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in avoiding
to resist the temptation of
she's old enough to make her own decisions, so we must forbear criticizing her taste in clothes
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 forbearing
Jeff Kingston, Time, 4 Oct. 2025
Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
With the economy in the doldrums, the public is less forbearing.
—Jeff Kingston, Time, 4 Oct. 2025
Verb
If Mamdani seems curiously forbearing toward Amin, given his own history, that has much to do with what happened next.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forbearing
Adjective
-
What happens when staying in school is no longer the sentimental choice, or the patient choice, but the best business decision available?—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Trump’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed excluding diagnoses added by an insurer who merely reviews patient records but never actually sees the patient.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Holland's not quite sure why so many in his generation are avoiding alcohol.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
1 May 2026
-
Nia has no interest at all in talking to them or even a strategy for avoiding them.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, when a stoic drifter named Herald Loomis (Joshua Boone) and his young daughter, Zonia (Savannah Commodore) arrive on their doorstep, the Holly’s world turns on its axis.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2026
-
No manuscript of American history is complete without footnotes to its bookstores, and many of them have been much more than stoic spectators to the country’s evolution.—
Kat Chen,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Just think of all those vacant Madonnas, structurally perfect compositions, and obedient daydreams of antiquity.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Always obedient, Agnes happily welcomes Daisy despite Shu’s warnings.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forbearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forbearing. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
