Example: She tried to come to terms with the sad news slowly.
Definition
"To come to terms with" means to gradually accept or reconcile oneself with an unpleasant or difficult situation, emotion, or fact. It involves a process of understanding and adapting to reality, often after initial resistance or denial.
Translations
aceptar
zich neerleggen bij
acceptar
se faire à
sich abfinden mit
Etymology
The phrase "to come to terms with" originates from legal language where 'terms' referred to the conditions of an agreement. Over time, it evolved into a metaphorical expression meaning to reach an understanding or acceptance, often of something challenging or unwelcome.
Learn to use this expression actively
"To come to terms with" appears in the Vocaplus list "English - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (B2) - set 1", containing 103 commonly used expressions.
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