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

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

The slaves, when they heard this, clustered close about him and embraced him; and he embraced them, and none could forbear weeping.

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