forbid
Americanverb (used with object)
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to command (a person) not to do something, have something, etc., or not to enter some place.
She forbade him entry to the house.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
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to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against.
to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
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to hinder or prevent; make impossible.
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to exclude; bar.
Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.
verb
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to prohibit (a person) in a forceful or authoritative manner (from doing something or having something)
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to make impossible; hinder
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to shut out or exclude
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may it not happen
Synonym Usage
Forbid, inhibit, prohibit, taboo indicate a command to refrain from some action. Forbid, a common and familiar word, usually denotes a direct or personal command of this sort: I forbid you to go. It was useless to forbid children to play in the park. Inhibit implies a checking or hindering of impulses by the mind, sometimes involuntarily: to inhibit one's desires; His responsiveness was inhibited by extreme shyness. Prohibit, a formal or legal word, means usually to forbid by official edict, enactment, or the like: to prohibit the sale of liquor. Taboo, primarily associated with primitive superstition, means to prohibit by common disapproval and by social custom: to taboo a subject in polite conversation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forbidsimple
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forbidssimple
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have forbadeperfect
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have forbidperfect
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have forbiddenperfect
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has forbadeperfect
-
has forbidperfect
-
has forbiddenperfect
-
am forbiddingprogressive
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are forbiddingprogressive
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is forbiddingprogressive
-
have been forbiddingperfect progressive
-
has been forbiddingperfect progressive
Past
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forbadsimple
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forbadesimple
-
forbidsimple
-
had forbadeperfect
-
had forbidperfect
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had forbiddenperfect
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was forbiddingprogressive
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were forbiddingprogressive
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had been forbiddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forbid
First recorded before 1000; Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid 1
Explanation
When you forbid something, you refuse to allow it. You might have heard your parents say things like, "I forbid you to play ball in the house!" or "I forbid you to have any more parties when we're not home!" Forbid comes from the Old English word forbeodan, meaning "forbid, prohibit." Forbid can also mean "prevent" or "keep from happening." The spare tire on your car will forbid you from driving any faster than 40 miles an hour — any faster and the car will shake. You may have heard forbid used in the expression "God forbid . . ." This refers to something you hope will not happen, so much so that you're asking God for a little help.
Vocabulary lists containing forbid
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez
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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:
God forbid that comes true, but if it does, this record is proof that Madonna is her discrepancies: She is this, and she is also that.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
While the Fed’s rules don’t flatly forbid closed-door meetings, they instruct officials to avoid sharing personal policy views with anyone who could profit financially unless those views are already public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
If, heaven forbid, something breaks or gets stolen, it will be your responsibility.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
The main reason drivers do not generally do this is that their contracts forbid it.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
The most they could do, however, was to lock away Harry’s spellbooks, wand, cauldron, and broomstick at the start of the summer break, and forbid him to talk to the neighbors.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Washington has vehemently opposed Tehran's desire to charge tolls in the strait, which international law generally forbids.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
The agreement releases all survivors from any prior nondisclosure agreements and forbids any future such secrecy agreements, and prohibits any adult-to-minor digital communications in the archdiocese.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The Constitution forbids racial discrimination in jury selection.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
Su, Stratos and another of his companies are on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which forbids U.S. businesses from exporting to listed companies without approval.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
Even tasks as simple as tying her boots he forbids her to do by hand.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
The Meyer decision, for example, overturned a Nebraska law which forbad teaching non-English languages in public and private schools.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2022
But the chapter refused him obedience, and the States of Holland forbad him to exercise any official function, and under threat of banishment of all Jesuits demanded the immediate return of the archbishop.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by Kurtz, J. H.
Prudence forbad him to approve, we are told, what kindness would not suffer him to prohibit.
From Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, Addressed to a Lady by Chapone, Hester
Gregory XVI. in 1835 condemned his writings, and the new Archbishop of Cologne, Droste-Vischering, forbad students at Bonn attending the lectures of Hermesians.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by Kurtz, J. H.
For my client forbad me to pursue my inquiries.
From The Courtship of Morrice Buckler A Romance by Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley)
The reason for the separation between the businesses, Corley added, had to do with a defunct local law that forbade the two establishments existing under one umbrella.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
That’s because the rule never forbade criticism of the SEC, but only a defendant’s attempt to deny the allegations or facts in a settlement that it “neither admitted nor denied.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Lawyers for the Jackson estate realised there was a clause in the settlement with Chandler that forbade the depiction or mention of him in any movie.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Staff at a North Korean restaurant in Dandong forbade AFP journalists from filming or taking photos of a large screen showing a patriotic music and dance performance.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
The elders forbade such goings-on—while at the same time expecting them.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Proponents say French sugar beet, apple and hazelnut farmers need the insecticides -- forbidden in France since 2018 and 2019, respectively -- to help them compete with their European counterparts.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The clients are anonymous and electronic devices are forbidden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
According to the company’s registration statement, he and other top insiders are forbidden to sell, lend them out or borrow against them, among other restrictions, for 366 days after the IPO.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
"As for things that are forbidden in our religion and do not exist, we do not want to talk about them. We only talk about the match, football and the beauty of the game."
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
To continue reading their favorite books, the Scholl children formed their own clandestine reading circle and shared forbidden books with others.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The New York Times calling it "cold and forbidding", while the Washington Post described it as a "time warp."
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
They worked to exclude religious schools anyway by forbidding participants from discriminating based on religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Which is apt enough: With this comes the forbidding sense of being at the end of the world with no guardrails.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
He saw no signs forbidding parking where he pulled over, and the curb was not, by all appearances, painted red, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
The way the house is closed off—the door to the sewing room, the doors to the kitchen and dining room, even the door at the top of the stairs—makes it a forbidding and mysterious place.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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.
