- patience (with somebody/something) the ability to stay calm and accept a delay or something annoying without complaining
- She has little patience with (= will not accept or consider) such views.
- People have lost patience with (= have become annoyed about) the slow pace of reform.
- I have run out of patience with her.
- My patience is wearing thin (= I do not have much patience left).
- Teaching children with special needs requires patience and understanding.
Extra ExamplesTopics Personal qualitiesb2- Her patience snapped and she walked out.
- I find it hard to keep my patience with them.
- It is clear that they are out of patience with me.
- Meg could see Kirk's patience was running out, so she shut up.
- She listened with infinite patience to his excuses.
- The children were beginning to try my patience.
- They thanked him for showing so much patience.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- endless
- great
- infinite
- …
- exercise
- have
- show
- …
- be exhausted
- run out
- snap
- …
- with patience
- patience for
- patience with
- …
- the patience of a saint
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- the ability to spend a lot of time doing something difficult that needs a lot of attention and effort
- It takes time and patience to photograph wildlife.
- I don't have the patience to do jigsaw puzzles.
- Our patience was finally rewarded and we got the band's autographs.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- endless
- great
- infinite
- …
- exercise
- have
- show
- …
- be exhausted
- run out
- snap
- …
- with patience
- patience for
- patience with
- …
- the patience of a saint
- (British English) (North American English solitaire)a card game for only one player
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French, from Latin patientia, from patient- ‘suffering’, from the verb pati.
Idioms
See patience in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee patience in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthe patience of Job
- the quality of being extremely patient and not complaining
- You need the patience of Job to deal with some of our customers.
try somebody’s patience
- to make somebody feel impatient
- His stubbornness would try the patience of a saint.
Check pronunciation:
patience