you must grin and bear it
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Resistance is hopeless; you may make a face, if you like, but you cannot help yourself.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “you must grin and bear it” mean?
Resistance is hopeless; you may make a face, if you like, but you cannot help yourself.
Is “you must grin and bear it” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.