# 35 Idioms for Acceptance
Idioms are like secret codes in the English language! They’re phrases where the words together mean something different than what they mean on their own. Learning idioms will help you understand conversations, movies, and books much better. Imagine hearing someone say “bite the bullet” – it doesn’t mean they’re actually going to bite a bullet! It means they’re going to face a difficult situation bravely.
Acceptance idioms are particularly helpful because they come up in everyday conversations, in discussions of social issues, and even when we talk about accepting ourselves! By learning these idioms, you’ll be able to better understand the ways people express agreement, tolerance, and even resignation to the realities of life. Ready to unlock the secrets of these expressions? Let’s dive in!
Idioms for Acceptance
1. Roll with the punches
Meaning: To adapt to difficulties and move forward; to accept what life throws at you even when it’s hard.
In a Sentence: When the project’s deadline was moved, Sarah had to roll with the punches and adjust her schedule. / Even though he didn’t get the job, he rolled with the punches and continued his job search.
Other Ways to Say: Take it in stride / Go with the flow / Make the best of it
2. Bury the hatchet
Meaning: To make peace and become friendly again after an argument or disagreement; to accept someone despite past conflicts.
In a Sentence: After years of feuding, the two families decided to bury the hatchet at the town meeting. / It was time to bury the hatchet and work together on the project.
Other Ways to Say: Forgive and forget / Let bygones be bygones / Reconcile
3. Accept someone warts and all
Meaning: To accept someone completely, including their flaws and imperfections; to see and embrace who they are without trying to change them.
In a Sentence: True love means accepting someone warts and all. / My best friend accepts me warts and all, even when I’m being difficult.
Other Ways to Say: Accept unconditionally / Love for who they are / Take the good with the bad.
4. Turn the other cheek
Meaning: To not retaliate or seek revenge when someone hurts or insults you; to demonstrate forgiveness and acceptance.
In a Sentence: Instead of arguing back, she decided to turn the other cheek and walk away from the negativity. / Sometimes, it’s best to turn the other cheek and not get involved in petty disagreements.
Other Ways to Say: Show restraint / Practice patience / Let it slide
5. Make peace with
Meaning: To come to terms with something unpleasant or difficult; to accept a situation even if you don’t like it.
In a Sentence: It took a lot of time, but eventually, she made peace with her past mistakes. / He needed to make peace with the fact that he wasn’t going to win every time.
Other Ways to Say: Get over it / Accept your fate / Come to terms with
6. Grin and bear it
Meaning: To accept something unpleasant or difficult with a brave face and without complaining; to tolerate a situation.
In a Sentence: The bus was crowded and hot, but we just had to grin and bear it for the short ride. / I didn’t like the new policy, but I decided to grin and bear it and hope it would improve.
Other Ways to Say: Put up with it / Tough it out / Endure without complaint
7. Live and let live
Meaning: To tolerate the behavior and opinions of others, even if they are different from your own; to avoid interfering in other people’s lives.
In a Sentence: My motto is live and let live; I don’t judge other people’s choices. / As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, I believe in live and let live.
Other Ways to Say: Tolerate others / Accept diversity / Be open-minded
8. Take it as it comes
Meaning: To accept events and situations as they happen without worrying too much about the future; to be flexible.
In a Sentence: We don’t have a detailed plan for the trip; we’re just going to take it as it comes. / I try not to stress about things I can’t control and just take it as it comes.
Other Ways to Say: Deal with it as it happens / Go with the flow / Be adaptable
9. Come to grips with
Meaning: To begin to understand and accept a difficult or complex situation; to face reality.
In a Sentence: After the accident, he struggled to come to grips with his injuries and limitations. / It took a while, but she eventually came to grips with the death of her pet.
Other Ways to Say: Face up to / Understand fully / Acknowledge and accept
10. Let sleeping dogs lie
Meaning: To avoid stirring up trouble or reopening old wounds; to accept things as they are to avoid further conflict.
In a Sentence: I know you disagree, but it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie and not bring up the argument again. / Since things were finally peaceful, he decided to let sleeping dogs lie.
Other Ways to Say: Don’t make trouble / Leave it alone / Don’t rock the boat
11. Such is life
Meaning: An expression used to suggest that disappointments and difficulties are a normal part of life and should be accepted.
In a Sentence: I didn’t get the promotion, but such is life. I’ll keep trying. / The cake fell, but such is life. We can order pizza!
Other Ways to Say: That’s how it goes / It can’t be helped / That’s life
12. A bitter pill to swallow
Meaning: Something unpleasant that you have to accept; an unwelcome fact or situation.
In a Sentence: Losing the game was a bitter pill to swallow. / It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she knew he was right.
Other Ways to Say: A hard truth / An unpleasant reality / Difficult to accept
13. Count your blessings
Meaning: To focus on the good things in your life and be grateful for them, especially when facing difficulties; a way of accepting the positive parts of your reality.
In a Sentence: Even though things are tough, I try to count my blessings every day/ Instead of complaining, try counting your blessings.
Other Ways to Say: Be thankful / Appreciate what you have/ Focus on the positives
14. Read the room
Meaning: To understand the mood and attitudes of the people in a particular situation and adjust your behavior accordingly; showing acceptance through awareness.
In a Sentence: She could tell the meeting wasn’t going well, so she read the room and kept her presentation short. / Before making a joke, you should always read the room.
Other Ways to Say: Be aware of your audience / Sense the atmosphere / Understand the situation
15. Give way
Meaning: To yield or allow passage; to accept another person’s precedence or right.
In a Sentence: The smaller car had to give way to the truck at the intersection. / I gave way to her opinion because she had more experience.
Other Ways to Say: Yield / Allow passage / Defer
16. Let it be
Meaning: To accept something as it is and not try to change it, especially if the change is unlikely or impossible.
In a Sentence: He kept arguing, but she just decided to let it be and not engage further. / There’s nothing more we can do, so let it be.
Other Ways to Say: Let it go / Accept the situation / Allow it to happen
17. Take the rough with the smooth
Meaning: To accept the bad things in life along with the good things; to understand that life isn’t always easy.
In a Sentence: Marriage is about taking the rough with the smooth, you can’t expect everything to be perfect. / You have to take the rough with the smooth; you can’t always have good days.
Other Ways to Say: Accept the good and bad / Endure hardships / Expect ups and downs
18. Fall in line
Meaning: To conform to rules or expectations; to accept the way things are done in a particular group or situation.
In a Sentence: If you want to be part of the team, you need to fall in line with the coach’s strategies. / Eventually, he had to fall in line with the new company policies.
Other Ways to Say: Conform / Comply / Follow the rules
19. C’est la vie
Meaning: A French phrase meaning “that’s life,” used to express acceptance of unfortunate or difficult events.
In a Sentence: I failed the exam, but c’est la vie, I’ll study harder next time. / We missed the train, c’est la vie, we’ll catch the next one.
Other Ways to Say: That’s life / It can’t be helped / Such is life
20. Meet someone halfway
Meaning: To compromise or make concessions in order to reach an agreement; to show willingness to accept some, but not all, of the other person’s demands.
In a Sentence: They couldn’t agree on the price, so they decided to meet each other halfway. / To settle the argument, both sides needed to meet each other halfway.
Other Ways to Say: Compromise / Find middle ground / Make concessions
21. Get over it
Meaning: To recover from or accept a disappointing or upsetting experience.
In a Sentence: He was sad at first, but eventually he got over it and moved on. / It’s been months, it’s time to get over it.
Other Ways to Say: Move on / Recover / Accept and forget
22. Let bygones be bygones
Meaning: To forgive and forget past offenses or disagreements.
In a Sentence: After years of silence, they decided to let bygones be bygones and renew their friendship. / It’s time to let bygones be bygones for the sake of the children.
Other Ways to Say: Forgive and forget / Bury the hatchet / Make peace
23. Swallow one’s pride
Meaning: To suppress one’s ego and accept something that is difficult or embarrassing.
In a Sentence: He had to swallow his pride and ask for help. / Sometimes you have to swallow your pride for the good of the team.
Other Ways to Say: Humbling yourself/ Eat crow / Admit you’re wrong
24. Be gracious in defeat
Meaning: To accept losing with good manners and without complaint.
In a Sentence: Even though she lost the race, she was gracious in defeat and congratulated the winner. / It’s important to be gracious in defeat.
Other Ways to Say: Lose with dignity/ Accept loss gracefully / Be a good sport
25. Live with it
Meaning: To accept an unpleasant situation, often because there is no way to change it.
In a Sentence: I don’t like the decision, but I have to live with it. / We can’t change the past, so we have to live with it.
Other Ways to Say: Accept it / Tolerate / Put up with
26. Take people as you find them
Meaning: To accept people for who they are without trying to change them.
In a Sentence: She believes in taking people as you find them, so she doesn’t judge others. / I try to take people as I find them; everyone has their own quirks.
Other Ways to Say: Accept people’s personalities / Be tolerant / Non-judgmental
27. Agree to disagree
Meaning: To accept that you have different opinions and stop arguing.
In a Sentence: We’ll never see eye-to-eye on this, so let’s just agree to disagree. / They agreed to disagree about politics.
Other Ways to Say: Accept different views / Stop arguing / Accept that we differ
28. It is what it is
Meaning: To accept a situation that cannot be changed.
In a Sentence: The weather is awful, but it is what it is, we should still go. / I didn’t get the ticket, but it is what it is, maybe next time.
Other Ways to Say: Can’t change it now / Accept the situation / No point in fighting it
29. The die is cast
Meaning: A decision has been made and cannot be changed; accepting that turning back is now impossible.
In a Sentence: The die is cast; we must proceed with the plan. / Once you’ve submitted the application, the die is cast.
Other Ways to Say: No turning back / Decision is final / Consequences must be faced
30. Get used to something
Meaning: To gradually become familiar with something over time; to accept something because of continued exposure.
In a Sentence: It took a while, but I eventually got used to the loud city noises. / You’ll get used to waking up early.
Other Ways to Say: Acclimate / Adapt / Become familiar
31. Lower your expectations
Meaning: To expect less from someone or something, often to avoid disappointment; a way of accepting potential outcomes.
In a Sentence: It’s best to lower your expectations when dealing with that company. / If you lower your expectations, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Other Ways to Say: Expect less / Be realistic / Manage hopes
32. See the writing on the wall
Meaning: To recognize the signs that something bad is going to happen and accept its inevitability.
In a Sentence: When sales started declining, he saw the writing on the wall and started looking for a new job. / She saw the writing on the wall and knew the company was going to fail.
Other Ways to Say: See the signs / Predict the outcome / Accept what’s coming
33. Take it on the chin
Meaning: To accept a setback or disappointment bravely and without complaining.
In a Sentence: He took the criticism on the chin and used it to improve his performance. / You just have to take it on the chin and move forward.
Other Ways to Say: Endure bravely / Accept the blow / Show resilience
34. Make the best of a bad situation
Meaning: To try to find something positive in a negative situation; to accept circumstances and strive for a good outcome.
In a Sentence: The flight was delayed, but we decided to make the best of a bad situation and explore the airport. / The project was a mess, but we tried to make the best of a bad situation.
Other Ways to Say: Find the silver lining / Turn lemons into lemonade / Focus on positives
35. Accept the inevitable
Meaning: To understand and agree that something is certain to happen and cannot be avoided.
In a Sentence: There was nothing they could do, so they decided to accept the inevitable. / Sometimes, you just need to accept the inevitable and move on.
Other Ways to Say: Deal with the unavoidable / Resign to fate / Face reality
Exercise to Practice
Fill in the blanks with the correct idiom from the list below.
_Idioms:_
- Bury the hatchet
- Roll with the punches
- Take it as it comes
- Get over it
- Such is life
- Live and let live
- Accept someone warts and all
- Swallow one’s pride
- Make peace with
- It is what it is
- Fall in line
1. Even though I was embarrassed to ask for help, I had to __________ to get the project done.
2. Instead of getting upset about the rain, we decided to __________ and have fun indoors.
3. After fighting for years, they decided to __________ and be friends again.
4. I didn’t pass the test, but __________; I’ll study harder next time.
5. If you want to be a part of the group, you need to __________ with their rules.
6. He finally had to __________ that he wasn’t going to be a professional athlete.
7. My philosophy is __________, so I don’t judge how other people live their lives.
8. She __________ and realized she couldn’t change the past.
9. True love means _______, especially when times get difficult.
10. When the company downsized, I had to __________ and find a new job.
11. The team didn’t win, but __________; sometimes winning is not everything.
Answer Key
1. Swallow one’s pride
2. Take it as it comes
3. Bury the hatchet
4. Such is life
5. Fall in line
6. Make peace with
7. Live and let live
8. Get over it
9. Accept someone warts and all
10. Roll with the punches
11. It is what it is
Conclusion
These idioms are more than just words – they are tools for understanding and navigating the complexities of human experience. By mastering these 35 idioms of acceptance, you’ll not only improve your English but also gain a deeper understanding of how people express, deal with, and communicate about life’s inevitable ups and downs.
The ability to recognize and use these idioms will open doors to richer conversations, provide insights into diverse perspectives, and offer you a nuanced way to navigate your own journey of understanding and acceptance. Keep practicing, and you’ll find that these idioms come naturally, making you a more confident and expressive English speaker!
