forgive
Americanverb (used with object)
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forgives,
present (3rd person singular)
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forgave,
past
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forgiven,
past participle
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forgiving
present participle
-
to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve.
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to give up all claim on account of; remit (a debt, obligation, etc.).
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to grant pardon to (a person).
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to cease to feel resentment against.
to forgive one's enemies.
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to cancel an indebtedness or liability of.
to forgive the interest owed on a loan.
verb (used without object)
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forgives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forgave,
past
-
forgiven,
past participle
-
forgiving
present participle
verb
-
to cease to blame or hold resentment against (someone or something)
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to grant pardon for (a mistake, wrongdoing, etc)
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(tr) to free or pardon (someone) from penalty
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(tr) to free from the obligation of (a debt, payment, etc)
Synonym Usage
See excuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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forgivernoun
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unforgivablenessnoun
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preforgiveverb (used with object)
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forgivableadjective
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half-forgivenadjective
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unforgivableadjective
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unforgivenadjective
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forgivablyadverb
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unforgivablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forgivesimple
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forgivessimple
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have forgivenperfect
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has forgivenperfect
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am forgivingprogressive
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are forgivingprogressive
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is forgivingprogressive
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have been forgivingperfect progressive
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has been forgivingperfect progressive
Past
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forgavesimple
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had forgivenperfect
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was forgivingprogressive
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were forgivingprogressive
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had been forgivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forgive
First recorded before 900; for- + give; replacing Middle English foryiven, Old English forgiefan
Explanation
If you forgive someone, you stop blaming him. You should really forgive your kid sister for eating the rest of the cake. Forgive comes from the Old English forgiefan, which also means "forgive," just with cooler spelling. When you forgive someone or something, that's the end of the story. Eventually, you will have to either forgive your friend for stealing your boyfriend, or stop being her friend. Loans can also be forgiven. If your credit card company forgives your debt, that means you no longer have to pay it.
Vocabulary lists containing forgive
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:
But Schoenbrun sticks up for the right to forgive a movie’s flaws.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Words were used that do not belong to civilised society -- directed not just at me, but even at my late mother... I want to forgive them."
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
"That baby was my hope and I can never forgive him for what he has done. I will never recover."
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
You don’t have to forgive them for what they could have done better, Preserve your energy and try to hold compassion for yourself.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
But Mom had let him bring Thor to the dinner table, so Bat turned his mouth up in a smile and added, “Will you forgive me?”
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
About 50% of borrowers moved into the IBR plan, an older plan that caps monthly payments at 10% or 15% of discretionary income and forgives remaining balances after 20 or 25 years of payments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
There is also a program for public-service employees like teachers that forgives any remaining balance after 10 years.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
In their final exchange, Serena apologizes for what she’s done and June forgives her.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
There's something magnanimous about the way Bon forgives his friend without condition, or because he knows that what they've gone through forces people to say things and think things when they know better.
From Salon ● May 27, 2024
She makes pronouncements that Ivanito doesn’t understand, stays up all night hearing prophecies in her head, forgives her father and ex-husband long lists of past trespasses.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
The speech was exploitative, but not demeaning, and the public forgave Nixon.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
They helped each other with childcare, and one loaned her money for her daughters’ tuition and then forgave the loan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
In response, Battle’s daughter not only forgave Burton, but has become an active advocate for his clemency.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
The school forgave the debt it said Ayala owed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
She forgave him nothing, forgot nothing, hated him as deeply as she had loved Isaac.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
But what’s happened since is so shocking that you’d be forgiven for wondering if Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski had been cloned in a lab at MIT.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The UK's first billionaire sportsman has been in so many adverts from Home Depot to Bank of America, you could be forgiven for forgetting what brand he is actually representing.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
In other versions of income-driven repayment, borrowers could have their loans forgiven after 20 or 25 years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Interestingly, reading the two cases back-to-back, you might be forgiven for not recognizing the similarities.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
He was not sure if she had forgiven him for the incident with Olanna—they had never talked about it—but this note, this new openness, meant that she was ready to move forward.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What they could’ve done instead: Opt for lighter colors that are more forgiving, or get used to sweeping or vacuuming your floors more often.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
Frozen puff pastry is wonderfully forgiving, provided you remember that butter prefers to stay cool.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
While England did benefit from some fixtures being played in air-conditioned stadiums with roofs, such as in Atlanta against DR Congo, other conditions were less forgiving.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
In Australian business, “we’re less forgiving of failure,” Lacaze said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
If the badger who’d left him to die had come through Deadwood, would Clare have been so forgiving?
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
