forgive
Americanverb (used with object)
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forgives,
present (3rd person singular)
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forgave,
past
-
forgiven,
past participle
-
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
-
have been forgivingperfect progressive
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has been forgivingperfect progressive
Past
-
forgavesimple
-
had forgivenperfect
-
was forgivingprogressive
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were forgivingprogressive
-
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:
If you’re going this route, McKeown advises against having a fixed plan to forgive the debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Real friends might forgive Misty when she lets them down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
"Jesus teaches us to forgive and I have, but what we are asking for is accountability."
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
It’s like two friends: If you must do something that hurts your friend, you tell him first and try to minimize the cost—that’s how friends forgive each other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Leah could not forgive Maggie for her candor; Maggie would not forgive Leah for her deception.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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
The victim, who was not named, is still recovering and learning to trust but forgives the family in an act of faith, the statement said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2024
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
Madame Gardinier in La Rabi- nais wants her son to know that she forgives him.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
“I don’t know how you’re doing it,” Bustillos’ mother said after Gonzalez told Bustillos she forgave him for the crash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Modi himself addressed the issue in a selfie video where he said it was "a culture shock" to see young women using expletives, but added that he forgave them.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
Even Mary forgave him a little, but she never really trusted him until after she was glad she was a girl, and then it was too late.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Other pitfalls just have to be forgiven, like when Abrams has to explain how he’s feeling with an air hose between his teeth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
The proposal is breathtaking in its audacity, so much so that you could be forgiven for being distracted by all the elements and missing the bigger picture.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
You’d be forgiven for thinking the U.S. is slouching toward recession based on the gloomy headlines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Even the most hardened boxing fan could have been forgiven for switching off.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
It didn’t seem like Mom had forgiven him—for what he did, for not being there when I was born.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
But after Gouken’s tragic murder — the particulars will eventually be revealed in flashbacks — Ken and Ryu went their separate ways, Ken never forgiving Ryu for failing to save Gouken’s life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
“If you designed your Muse avatar or if you designed your Dot in the likeness of your pet, perhaps you would feel a little bit more forgiving if your pet coughs up a hairball, right?”
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
"We all make mistakes, we all forget things. It's not the end of the world. If you can go back and make a humour of it the audience are quite forgiving and accepting."
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
But critics say there is a difference between forgiving Galliano’s words and throwing a glamorous party in his honor—which also would fall at the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah in Hebrew.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
“My husband’s aunt says that you visit the prison at her direction, bringing tablescraps not good enough for pigs. She declared that forgiving and caring for the enemy is doing the Lord’s work.”
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
