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:
There’s no harm in that per se, but you’ll have to forgive my irritation with Sudeikis, Lawrence, Hunt and fellow executive producer and showrunner Joe Kelly’s clumsiness with the team’s most complicated working relationship.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026
He said: "I don't feel angry, I try not to. It's very difficult to forgive, I'm working on that."
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
But this is also a story about literal class warfare, one in which those who oppose the privileges of blood are unwilling to forgive the sins of the fathers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
"Of course some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book," he told the BBC.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
There is no way to repair the harm to the community, no way any of the people on this worksheet will ever forgive me.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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
She forgives the debt of three men so they’ll change their names to Roy Tillman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 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
I hope he’s watching now, that he remembers that night as it happened, and maybe forgives me when I die.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
The speech was exploitative, but not demeaning, and the public forgave Nixon.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
After her editor sent 11 pages of feedback and issued a two-month deadline for an overhaul, Fortune forgave herself for not getting a gold star on her first draft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
In response, Battle’s daughter not only forgave Burton, but has become an active advocate for his clemency.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
Clough never forgave Taylor, who was by then managing Derby County, for signing Robertson on a transfer with a fee to be decided by a tribunal, without informing him of his plans.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2025
She forgot about time as she drifted between pieces, voicing the unspeakable, opening old wounds, playing and playing as the sound forgave and saved her.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Show up on a Wednesday night and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the middle of a busy Saturday.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
All will be forgiven if Allen delivers, reverses all those decades of bad juju and hoists the Lombardi hood ornament into the sky.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Investors returning from the Labor Day break could be forgiven for wondering if their eyes were deceiving them, but yes, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were significantly worse than the S&P 500.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
But with seven points from a possible nine, three clean sheets and only two points behind early pacesetters Manchester City, the Hull supporters can be forgiven for dreaming a little.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“I think,” I say softly, “if I’d lost the land, Father would’ve forgiven me. He would’ve said, ‘You’re just a boy.’
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The galette, which is essentially a freeform pie, is already one of the great weeknight forms — sweet or savory, rustic by design, deeply forgiving.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
Wall Street worked itself into a lather over the idea that the Fed could adopt a more forgiving inflation measure than the personal-consumption-expenditure index the central bank tracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Courts are sometimes more forgiving of burdens on speech when the real focus of a law is conduct, and when any restriction on speech is minor and incidental.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
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
But over time she showed me who she really was, a forgiving friend, faithful to the truth, brave enough to take action.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
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.
