forbidden fruit

American  

[fer-bid-n froot, fawr-bid-n] / fərˈbɪd n ˈfrut, fɔrˈbɪd n /

noun

1. (in the Bible) the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, tasted by Adam and Eve against God's prohibition.

2. any unlawful pleasure, especially illicit sexual indulgence.

3. pomelo.

---

forbidden fruit British  

noun

1. any pleasure or enjoyment regarded as illicit, esp sexual indulgence

---

forbidden fruit Cultural  

1. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, often pictured as an apple, which God forbade Adam and Eve to eat. Their disobedience brought about the Fall of Man.

---

forbidden fruit Idioms  

1. Unlawful pleasure or enjoyment; illicit love. For example, After Mary moved in with John, Tom began courting her—forbidden fruit is sweet, I guess, or Smoking behind the woodshed, that's a case of forbidden fruit. This expression alludes to Adam and Eve's violation of God's commandment not to touch fruit from the tree of knowledge, which resulted in their expulsion from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6). In the form forbidden fruit is sweet it appeared in numerous early English proverb collections.

---

Discover More

“Forbidden fruit” is used commonly to refer to anything that is tempting but potentially dangerous. It is often associated with sexuality.

Etymology

Origin of forbidden fruit

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

His WASPy Hubbell represents forbidden fruit to Streisand’s 1930s college activist; the movie gets its shout-out on “Sex and the City.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2025

This may be due to a "forbidden fruit" effect, which could make potentially aversive material more tempting to viewers.

From Science Daily • Oct. 12, 2023

Many biblical scholars assert Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on a Friday.

From DOGO News • Oct. 9, 2023

Because forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, and telling your children that candy is off-limits can make them feel more obsessive about having it.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 25, 2021

But during the seventeenth century, musicians intrigued by the forbidden fruit opened up by chord sequences increasingly sought to be able to move from one mode to another.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall