forbid

[fer-bid, fawr-]

verb (used with object)

forbade, forbad, forbid, forbidden, forbid, forbidding. 

1. 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

2. to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against.

   to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.

   Synonyms: interdict

3. to hinder or prevent; make impossible.

   Synonyms: deter, obviate, stop, preclude

4. to exclude; bar.

   Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.

forbid

/ fəˈbɪd /

verb

1. to prohibit (a person) in a forceful or authoritative manner (from doing something or having something)

2. to make impossible; hinder

3. to shut out or exclude

4. may it not happen

Other Word Forms

• forbidder noun
• forbiddance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of forbid¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of forbid¹

Old English forbēodan ; related to Old High German farbiotan , Gothic faurbiudan ; see _for- , _bid

Idioms and Phrases

see god forbid.

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

“LAPD consistently fails to get the basic point that the First Amendment forbids them from closing areas to the press unless its required for a specific and overriding concern,” Bibring said.

From Los Angeles Times

They didn’t realize the house sits on 90 acres and unpermitted commercial activity is forbidden anywhere on the property, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

The collaboration is a shot in the arm for American semiconductor manufacturing ambitions, especially at a time when China is starting to forbid the use of Nvidia’s chips to reduce its dependence on U.S. technology.

From Los Angeles Times

The prime minister's chief of staff McSweeney was called out of a meeting in a secure room in Whitehall where mobile communications are forbidden.

From BBC

"All the looks across the room, the forbidden little touches and everything - it's all there."

From BBC

Related Words

• ban 
• block 
• cancel 
• censor 
• deny 
• deprive 
• disallow 
• enjoin 
• exclude 
• freeze 
• halt 
• hinder 
• impede 
• inhibit 
• oppose 
• preclude 
• prevent 
• proscribe 
• restrain 
• restrict