forbid
Americanverb (used with object)
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forbids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forbade,
past participle, past
-
forbid,
past participle, past
-
forbad,
past (Archaic)
-
forbidden,
past participle
-
forbidding
present participle
-
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
-
to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against.
to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
-
to hinder or prevent; make impossible.
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
forbadsimple
-
forbadesimple
-
forbidsimple
-
had forbadeperfect
-
had forbidperfect
-
had forbiddenperfect
-
was forbiddingprogressive
-
were forbiddingprogressive
-
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:
"Sometimes a ban makes things worse. Protesting is a right -- it's like with children, when you forbid something, it becomes even more tempting," one employee remarked to AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
But each time a home is lost, or, God forbid, a loved one, it wears down even the most hardened Malibu resident a little bit more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
"God forbid we wake up the prime minister and he says, 'Wake up the entire IDF immediately, scramble the air force!'" he told Israel's right-wing Channel 14 television network.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Heaven forbid, should you and your husband predecease your mother, what happens to the house she lives in?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
She would forbid me even to touch its binding!
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
But she is trapped by a K-pop system that forbids her from drinking alcohol and having adult relationships.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
It is likely to have a limited impact in the month ahead because the law forbids states from purging their voter rolls in the 90 days before an election.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
"There is a regulatory vacuum because Article 4 of the 1967 treaty only forbids weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons in orbit," said space law expert Laetitia Cesari.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Trump officials say any such favoritism violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that forbids discrimination in education and was created to fight segregation and its impact.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Nothing in the prophecy forbids you to come,” said Luxa.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
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
It was evidently the interest of England, that this superb collection should remain within three days journey of London; but the principle "suum cuique" forbad it.
From Four Years in France or, Narrative of an English Family's Residence there during that Period; Preceded by some Account of the Conversion of the Author to the Catholic Faith by Henry Digby Beste
William at the same time forbad the English from going to Rome, and prohibited them acknowledging any other pope than him whom he should approve.
From The Power Of The Popes by Pierre Claude Fran?ois Daunou
And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
From Walks and Words of Jesus A Paragraph Harmony of the Four Evangelists by M. N. Olmsted
For my client forbad me to pursue my inquiries.
From The Courtship of Morrice Buckler A Romance by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
Yet he is so bad at ABS challenges that manager Dave Roberts forbade Pages from challenging pitches after his unsuccessful challenge in the NL Division Series opener Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
This neutrality was legally defined by the Hague Convention of 1907, which forbade Switzerland supplying weapons to countries at war.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Common-law rules at the time forbade defendant testimony on the theory that it was self-interested and thus unreliable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
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
The laws of Ghalas-at forbade the making of weapons by women of the tribe, so I went out to search for any that might have been left behind.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
Gender segregation is standard practice for many Orthodox Jews but is forbidden in public places by the government of socially liberal Tel Aviv.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He said his parents were deeply religious and so strict that even simple pleasures such as singing were forbidden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
In 1935, when Anderson and the Finnish accompanist Kosti Vehanen began their tour of the Soviet Union, she was warned that music with religious content was strictly forbidden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
But, for the 23-year-old, it is also a passage into a different, freer world - where she can find answers to forbidden questions.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The day after Ophie opened the forbidden closet in Mrs. Caruthers’s room the old woman had the groundskeeper, Mr. Henry, add a padlock to the door.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
Diehards might find fault with something or other, but, to quote the author, you’d have to possess a “most forbidding, disagreeable countenance” not to be charmed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
F1 drivers' contracts usually have clauses in them forbidding them from doing 'dangerous sports', such as skiing or scuba diving, although not every driver's contract is the same.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
If your niece’s mother lives there rent-free, the trustee should be comfortable that doing so benefits your niece and there should be no rules forbidding it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
The cultural chasm between Europeans and Africans presented obstacles to conversion, and a long legacy of church practice forbidding the enslavement of fellow Christians provided grounds to leave slaves in unbelief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
He knew how far they were from the nearest land; he knew when they had crossed the Antarctic Circle; he knew how many miles of forbidding ocean still lay between the crew and their home.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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