1. absence of objection rather than genuine approval; toleration: "Charles was only here on sufferance"
▪ the condition of the holder of an estate who continues to hold it after the title has ceased, without the express permission of the owner: "an estate at sufferance"
▪ patient endurance.archaic
2. the suffering or undergoing of something bad or unpleasant.archaic
Word OriginMiddle English (in sufferance (sense 2)): from Anglo-Norman French suffraunce, from late Latin sufferentia, from sufferre (see suffer).
