forbid
Americanverb (used with object)
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to command (a person) not to do something, have something, etc., or not to enter some place.
She forbade him entry to the house.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
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to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against.
to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
-
to hinder or prevent; make impossible.
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to exclude; bar.
Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.
verb
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to prohibit (a person) in a forceful or authoritative manner (from doing something or having something)
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to make impossible; hinder
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to shut out or exclude
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may it not happen
Synonym Usage
Forbid, inhibit, prohibit, taboo indicate a command to refrain from some action. Forbid, a common and familiar word, usually denotes a direct or personal command of this sort: I forbid you to go. It was useless to forbid children to play in the park. Inhibit implies a checking or hindering of impulses by the mind, sometimes involuntarily: to inhibit one's desires; His responsiveness was inhibited by extreme shyness. Prohibit, a formal or legal word, means usually to forbid by official edict, enactment, or the like: to prohibit the sale of liquor. Taboo, primarily associated with primitive superstition, means to prohibit by common disapproval and by social custom: to taboo a subject in polite conversation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forbidsimple
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forbidssimple
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have forbadeperfect
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have forbidperfect
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have forbiddenperfect
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has forbadeperfect
-
has forbidperfect
-
has forbiddenperfect
-
am forbiddingprogressive
-
are forbiddingprogressive
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is forbiddingprogressive
-
have been forbiddingperfect progressive
-
has been forbiddingperfect progressive
Past
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forbadsimple
-
forbadesimple
-
forbidsimple
-
had forbadeperfect
-
had forbidperfect
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had forbiddenperfect
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was forbiddingprogressive
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were forbiddingprogressive
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had been forbiddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forbid
First recorded before 1000; Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid 1
Explanation
When you forbid something, you refuse to allow it. You might have heard your parents say things like, "I forbid you to play ball in the house!" or "I forbid you to have any more parties when we're not home!" Forbid comes from the Old English word forbeodan, meaning "forbid, prohibit." Forbid can also mean "prevent" or "keep from happening." The spare tire on your car will forbid you from driving any faster than 40 miles an hour — any faster and the car will shake. You may have heard forbid used in the expression "God forbid . . ." This refers to something you hope will not happen, so much so that you're asking God for a little help.
Vocabulary lists containing forbid
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The United Nations’s chief wants humanity to forbid killer robots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Want emails or financial records or, heaven forbid, anything from the police?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
If, heaven forbid, something breaks or gets stolen, it will be your responsibility.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
The main reason drivers do not generally do this is that their contracts forbid it.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
“I forbid you to leave this room that wav,” he informed her.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Some of those strikes could violate international law, which forbids attacking civilian infrastructure.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
Spain forbids public and commercial buildings from cooling below 80 degrees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
In addition, they say, the regulations also allow for recycling technologies that pollute, such as chemical recycling, which the law as originally drafted forbids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The RFU stipulates a "zero-tolerance approach" to discrimination and harassment and forbids public comment that could damage the game or the union's reputation.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
“You needn’t worry. Attorney-client privilege forbids me from telling anyone what you say in here. I just need to know if it’s true.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
The Meyer decision, for example, overturned a Nebraska law which forbad teaching non-English languages in public and private schools.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2022
In the seventeenth they forbad her all worldly songs; as to religious songs, she abstains from them much more easily.
From Priests, Women, and Families by Michelet, Jules
The council of the Bernese government resolved to recall the refractory clergy of the Jura, took their names off the civil register and forbad them to exercise any clerical functions.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by Kurtz, J. H.
For this cause the King was displeased with Thurstine, and forbad him to returne into the Realme.
From The Lives of the III Normans, Kings of England: William the First, William the Second, Henrie the First by Hayward, John
My mother forbad me ever to say a word about it.
From Four Phases of Love by Heyse, Paul
The reason for the separation between the businesses, Corley added, had to do with a defunct local law that forbade the two establishments existing under one umbrella.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
That’s because the rule never forbade criticism of the SEC, but only a defendant’s attempt to deny the allegations or facts in a settlement that it “neither admitted nor denied.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
She also forbade local police from cooperating with the agency in any operation conducted solely on immigration grounds.
From Barron's ● May 7, 2026
Not long after, adults will follow suit and find themselves relishing the activities they once forbade their children from.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
"She forbade him to fight, in front of his brother, his knights, and half the court. Tell me truly, do you know any surer way to force King Robert into die melee? I ask you."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
These organizations aim to detect dissent and prevent students from reading forbidden books or listening to banned songs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
The Empire State Building has an observation deck open to the public that offers stunning views of New York, but access to higher points is forbidden.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
According to the company’s registration statement, he and other top insiders are forbidden to sell, lend them out or borrow against them, among other restrictions, for 366 days after the IPO.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
"As for things that are forbidden in our religion and do not exist, we do not want to talk about them. We only talk about the match, football and the beauty of the game."
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
So, forbidden to cut her own hair, she had given herself a fringe with a pair of nail scissors.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
He saw no signs forbidding parking where he pulled over, and the curb was not, by all appearances, painted red, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
In this forbidding portrait, suffering threatens to outweigh the tantalizing possibility of redemption.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche proposed forbidding gas stations from changing prices more than once a day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
A government notice said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ordered releases of more than 7,300 prisoners convicted under legislation forbidding "financing of terrorism" and harbouring or arranging transport for "any terrorist group".
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
The trail maintainers in Maine have a certain hale devotion to seeking out the rockiest climbs and most forbidding slopes, and of these Maine has a breathtaking plenitude.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
