inure means to cause someone to become accustomed to something that requires prolonged or repeated tolerance of one or more unpleasantries. It carries an Arena rating of 1651, earned across 13 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, inure ranks #296 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,534 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,198 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,524 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
inure is pronounced /ɪˈnjʊə(ɹ)/.
Why “inure” is a great word
To cause someone to become accustomed to something, especially an unpleasant or difficult situation, through prolonged exposure. From Middle English inuren, a contraction of the phrase 'in ure' meaning 'in use, customary', from Anglo-French 'en ure' ('in use, at work'), with 'ure' deriving from Old French 'uevre', 'ovre' ('work'), from Latin 'opera' ('work, effort'). First recorded in use 1480–90. Unlike "habituate," which describes the automatic formation of any routine, or "desensitize," which denotes a specific blunting of sensitivity, to inure is to be worn into resilience by the sheer friction of circumstance. It is the callus forming on a laborer's hand, the numbness of a soldier to distant gunfire, and the quiet acceptance of a gray, featureless sky—the slow, practical work the soul performs to make a home within hardship.
Etymology
From Middle English inuren, equivalent to in- + ure (“practise, exercise”).
verb
- To cause someone to become accustomed to something that requires prolonged or repeated tolerance of one or more unpleasantries.e.g.“Matcht with as valiant men, and of as cleane a might, / As skilfull to commaund, and as inur’d to fight.” — 1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 12, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britai
- To take effect, to be operative.e.g.“Jim buys a beach house that includes the right to travel across the neighbor's property to get to the water. That right of way is said "to inure to the benefit of Jim".”
- To commit.e.g.“He […] gan that ladie strongly to appele / Of many haynous crymes by her enured.” — 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 39:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- enure 87% match — To inure; to make accustomed or desensitized to something unpleasant due to constant exposure. vs inure →
- inured 77% match — Accustomed to something, especially something unpleasant. vs inure →
- inuredness 77% match — The quality of being inured, or accustomed to something by repeated exposure. vs inure →
- inurement 73% match — Custom, habituation; normal practice. vs inure →
- disinure 68% match — To make unfamiliar with something; to disaccustom. vs inure →
- accustom 64% match — To make familiar by use; to cause to accept; to habituate, familiarize, or inure. vs inure →
- endue 59% match — Senses relating to covering or putting on.; Of a person or thing: to take on (a different form); to adopt, to assume. vs inure →
- inauration 59% match — The act or process of gilding or covering with gold. vs inure →