forbid
Americanverb (used with object)
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forbids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forbade,
past participle, past
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forbid,
past participle, past
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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
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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
-
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
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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
-
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:
While most jurisdiction forbid medical help to die, assisted dying laws around the world vary.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Laws forbid the IRS from targeting individuals and organizations for ideological reasons, and federal officials are not allowed to direct IRS investigations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Because God forbid they start watching ‘The View’ or something.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Scarier yet, it’s possible that someone—or, heaven forbid, some A.I. detector—might mistake my text for ChatGPT’s.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
And he did nothing except to forbid them to enter her courts and when he saw them they did not, but when he did not see them they ran in and out secretly.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
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
But the bill names loyalty programs both among the rewards it permits and among those it forbids.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
International law generally forbids tolling in such waterways.
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
Some of those strikes could violate international law, which forbids attacking civilian infrastructure.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
The following year, Mexico forbids further American colonization of Texas and prohibits the importation of more slaves into the territory.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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
An order of the king as head of the church abolished the union of the two state synods in a general synod which had existed since 1849, and forbad all discussion of matters of discipline.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by J. H. Kurtz
When, however, the imperial pleasure was finally taken, Taou Kwang forbad any further reference to the proposal, saying that he could not “change face.”
From A Vindication of England's Policy with Regard to the Opium Trade by Charles Reginald Haines
In St. Augustin's time, as we have seen, they positively forbad the Pope's interference with their internal government, and only submitted to it after they had been enfeebled by the irruption of the Vandals.
From The Church of England cleared from the charge of Schism Upon Testimonies of Councils and Fathers of the first six centuries by T. W. (Thomas William) Allies
That part of the ceremony I forbad, and took particular care during the whole play to observe the conduct of the drama, and give no offence by my own behaviour.
From The Tatler, Volume 3 by Various
It was a time of deep-rooted mistrust in policing and a street code that forbade snitching to authorities.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
After the judge forbade them from using certain PowerPoint slides, Halem’s former attorneys decided against presenting an opening statement to jurors, scuttling any possibility of a favorable outcome, Weimortz said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 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
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
Soon enough, though, Mahmoud learned of his son’s aspirations, and, fearing he would lose his son to the unforgiving sea that had almost taken his own life, he forbade him from swimming long distances.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
This wasn’t just because a third term is forbidden by the Constitution.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
A defense of yelling in restaurants: It’s a forbidden behavior in today’s restaurants—but Amanda Albee spoke to chefs who say it massively improved their careers.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Under local regulations in the region, "it is forbidden to needlessly disturb, attract or pursue a polar bear", which was declared a protected species in Svalbard in 1972.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Even after New Jersey legalized casinos in the 1970s, sports betting outside Nevada was mostly forbidden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Was she also to be forbidden to see all others, even her sisters so dear to her?
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Well, it's not exactly Mariah Carey demanding baskets of puppies and forbidding eye contact, but Imbruglia was shaken up.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
In May the Justice Ministry invoked its new anti-extraterritorial-jurisdiction rules for the first time, forbidding Chinese entities from cooperating with the European Commission’s investigation, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, into Chinese security-equipment maker Nuctech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Daniels isn’t pleased, informing LSU through his attorney that he “feels profoundly disrespected” and forbidding the school to use his name, image and likeness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 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
Anyone so freaked out by a puny fake wasn’t capable of handling a real alligator, especially in the forbidding darkness of a Travelin’ Johnny.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
