Patient

/ˈpeɪ̯ʃənt/ · adjective

Meaning

(of a person) Willing to wait if necessary; not losing one's temper while waiting..

Definitions by Sense

1. (of a person) Willing to wait if necessary; not losing one's temper while waiting.
2. Constant in pursuit or exertion; persevering; calmly diligent.
3. (obsolete) Physically able to suffer or bear.
4. A person or animal that receives health care from a doctor, nurse, dentist, allied health practitioner, or other person educated in health care.
5. (linguistics, grammar) The noun or noun phrase that is semantically on the receiving end of a verb's action.
6. One who, or that which, is passively affected; a passive recipient.

Example Sentences

Be patient: your friends will arrive in a few hours.

Asari Cultural VI: Due to our lifespan-sometimes reaching 1,000 years of age-we are patient in our decisions, and prefer long-term solutions over short-term gains.

patient endeavour

a patient wait

patient analysis

c. 1692, Sir Isaac Newton, letter to Dr. Richard Bentley Whatever I have done […] is due to […] patient thought.

December 15, 2016, Hettie Judah in the New York Times, Beloved Children’s-Book Characters, in Their Own Immersive World “Her personal life and her art were very intertwined: You can’t really separate them,” explains Sophia Jansson. “She mirrored her own a reality onto a fictional reality.” And this is perhaps the nub of the Moomin’s enduring appeal: a combination of adventuresome spirit and philosophy, all of which Jansson derived from close and patient observation, of human relationships and of the natural world alike.

In contrast, the Westminster Gazette in 1912 was much more positive about railway staff, praising the "...army of porters hustling and bustling hither and thither with barrows groaning under the weight of bags and baggage and... the ever-patient and long-suffering guards, courteously giving information and advice to the querulous passengers... to the porter the Christmas season means a continuous round of heavy labour, extremely tiring to both nerves and temper, and this fact the public too often seem either to forget or ignore."

Synonyms for patient

Antonyms for patient

Related Words

Word Forms

• more patient
• most patient
• patients

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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