forbear

American  

[fawr-bair] / fɔrˈbɛər /

verb (used with object)

forbore, forborne, forbearing

1. to refrain or abstain from; desist from.

   Synonyms:

   renounce, sacrifice, forgo

2. to keep back; withhold.

3. Obsolete. to endure.

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verb (used without object)

forbore, forborne, forbearing

1. to refrain; hold back.

2. to be patient or self-controlled when subject to annoyance or provocation.

forbear ¹ British  

/ fɔːˈbɛə /

verb

1. to cease or refrain (from doing something)

2. archaic to tolerate or endure (misbehaviour, mistakes, etc)

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forbear ² British  

/ ˈfɔːˌbɛə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of forebear

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Other Word Forms

• forbearer noun
• forbearingly adverb
• nonforbearing adjective
• nonforbearingly adverb
• unforbearing adjective

Etymology

Origin of forbear

First recorded before 900; Middle English forberen, Old English forberan “to refrain from, abstain; spare, excuse”; for-, bear ¹

Example Sentences

If the real Queen Charlotte could claim any African cultural lineage, it would have come from a distant Portuguese forbear.

From Salon • May 6, 2023

Three decades ago, Likud, then a more traditional conservative party, shunned Mr. Ben-Gvir’s ideological forbear, Meir Kahane, for being too extreme.

From New York Times • Oct. 24, 2022

Bellatine and Isaac know nothing of this Russian forbear, having both distanced themselves from their roots.

From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2022

"Frankly I do not myself feel at all like my great Tudor forbear."

From Reuters • Feb. 3, 2022

As we embraced, he could not forbear to shed a tear.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson