To suffer means to experience pain, hardship, or something unpleasant. When you suffer, you endure something difficult that you can't easily escape or fix. A person might suffer from a bad headache, suffer through a boring lecture, or suffer the consequences of forgetting to study for a test.

The word covers both physical and emotional pain. An athlete suffers from a sprained ankle. A student suffers embarrassment after tripping in the cafeteria. A family suffers when a loved one is ill. Sometimes people suffer in silence, keeping their pain to themselves instead of asking for help.

Suffer can also mean allowing something to happen, though this meaning sounds old-fashioned today. In older books, you might read “suffer the children to come unto me,” which means “let the children come” or “allow the children to come.”

When something suffers from a problem, it means that problem causes damage or decline. A garden suffers from lack of rain. A friendship might suffer when two people stop communicating.

The word suffering (as a noun) describes the state of experiencing pain or hardship: “The doctor worked to reduce her patient's suffering.” Throughout history, people have created art, music, and literature trying to make sense of human suffering and find meaning in difficult times.