idiom · neutral
grin and bear it
UK/ɡrɪn ænd beə ɪt/US/ɡrɪn ænd bɛr ɪt/GRIN·and·BEAR·it
to accept an unpleasant situation and endure it without complaining
Examples
“When the meeting ran late, I just grinned and bore it rather than make a scene.”
“Sometimes you have to grin and bear it when you're the only junior in a senior team.”
“Even though the hike was painful, we grinned and bore it to reach the summit.”
Band 8 sentence
“Faced with months of disruption during the refurbishment, residents chose to grin and bear it rather than escalate the dispute.”
Collocations
- grin and bear it + when/while
- have to grin and bear it
Word family
Common mistakes
I grinned and bore with it.→I grinned and bore it.
She grin and bear it when boss scolded her.→She grinned and bore it when her boss scolded her.
Say it for a higher band
5put up with→6tolerate→7+grin and bear it
Synonyms
put up with
tough it out
Easily confused
put up with
“I can't put up with the noise any longer.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Emotions
Learn it with its set