Sufferance

Sufferance refers to the act of enduring pain, hardship, or distress. It can also describe the state of allowing or tolerating something, particularly something undesirable or unfavorable, without active opposition or protest. Furthermore, it can imply a passive acceptance of a situation, often due to a lack of power or the belief that resistance would be futile. It highlights a capacity for endurance, a willingness to bear burden, or a state of permitted existence, usually under some form of constraint or limitation. It can also be used to describe the conditions of a subject, for example, a tenant living in a building past the lease term or staying by the consent of the landlord without a lease in effect.

Sufferance meaning with examples

• Despite the ongoing economic hardship, the citizens showed remarkable sufferance, patiently enduring long queues for basic necessities and accepting reduced living standards. They continued to hope for eventual improvement.
• The tenant remained in the apartment by the landlord's sufferance. Although the lease had expired, the landlord allowed the tenant to stay, but the agreement was now a month to month at the landlord's discretion.
• Under the dictator's rule, the people lived in a state of constant sufferance, forced to comply with oppressive laws and fearful of any dissent, as there was no avenue for active resistance.
• The company's environmental practices were under the sufferance of regulators; they were tolerated but continuously under review and subject to potential penalties. The practices were below the environmental standards.