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”; see origin at for-, bear ¹

Explanation

When you forbear, you hold yourself back from doing something. If you're mad at your best friend, you might forbear to return her text messages for a while. If you forbear to giggle during your teacher's stern lecture, that's a good thing. You keep yourself from laughing out loud, even though that's instinctively what you want to do. The Old English root, forberan, means "control one's feelings, or tolerate." A less common way to use forbear is as a noun meaning "ancestor." So if you're refraining from reading about your ancestors, you can say you forbear to learn about your forbears.

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

But if “Cabinet of Curiosities” has a spiritual forbear, it is someone more sinister.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 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

They must forbear to kill the hounds of Zeus, she said, but she swore by the waters of the Styx, the oath that none can break, that they would never again trouble Phineus.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton