forgive
Americanverb (used with object)
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forgives,
present (3rd person singular)
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forgave,
past
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forgiven,
past participle
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forgiving
present participle
-
to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve.
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to give up all claim on account of; remit (a debt, obligation, etc.).
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to grant pardon to (a person).
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to cease to feel resentment against.
to forgive one's enemies.
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to cancel an indebtedness or liability of.
to forgive the interest owed on a loan.
verb (used without object)
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forgives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forgave,
past
-
forgiven,
past participle
-
forgiving
present participle
verb
-
to cease to blame or hold resentment against (someone or something)
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to grant pardon for (a mistake, wrongdoing, etc)
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(tr) to free or pardon (someone) from penalty
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(tr) to free from the obligation of (a debt, payment, etc)
Synonym Usage
See excuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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forgivernoun
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unforgivablenessnoun
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preforgiveverb (used with object)
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forgivableadjective
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half-forgivenadjective
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unforgivableadjective
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unforgivenadjective
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forgivablyadverb
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unforgivablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
forgivesimple
-
forgivessimple
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have forgivenperfect
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has forgivenperfect
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am forgivingprogressive
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are forgivingprogressive
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is forgivingprogressive
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have been forgivingperfect progressive
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has been forgivingperfect progressive
Past
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forgavesimple
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had forgivenperfect
-
was forgivingprogressive
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were forgivingprogressive
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had been forgivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forgive
First recorded before 900; for- + give; replacing Middle English foryiven, Old English forgiefan
Explanation
If you forgive someone, you stop blaming him. You should really forgive your kid sister for eating the rest of the cake. Forgive comes from the Old English forgiefan, which also means "forgive," just with cooler spelling. When you forgive someone or something, that's the end of the story. Eventually, you will have to either forgive your friend for stealing your boyfriend, or stop being her friend. Loans can also be forgiven. If your credit card company forgives your debt, that means you no longer have to pay it.
Vocabulary lists containing forgive
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:
Real friends might forgive Misty when she lets them down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
"Jesus teaches us to forgive and I have, but what we are asking for is accountability."
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
There’s no harm in that per se, but you’ll have to forgive my irritation with Sudeikis, Lawrence, Hunt and fellow executive producer and showrunner Joe Kelly’s clumsiness with the team’s most complicated working relationship.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026
But this is also a story about literal class warfare, one in which those who oppose the privileges of blood are unwilling to forgive the sins of the fathers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
He’ll never forgive me if I don’t agree, and I can’t live with that.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
About 50% of borrowers moved into the IBR plan, an older plan that caps monthly payments at 10% or 15% of discretionary income and forgives remaining balances after 20 or 25 years of payments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
There is also a program for public-service employees like teachers that forgives any remaining balance after 10 years.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
In their final exchange, Serena apologizes for what she’s done and June forgives her.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
There's something magnanimous about the way Bon forgives his friend without condition, or because he knows that what they've gone through forces people to say things and think things when they know better.
From Salon ● May 27, 2024
“How come everything is always about you? This forgiveness isn’t for you. Until Peter forgives you, he won’t heal.”
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
Linda Hoy said Complainant B cried at the meeting when she said she forgave Sir Jeffrey.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
The speech was exploitative, but not demeaning, and the public forgave Nixon.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
They helped each other with childcare, and one loaned her money for her daughters’ tuition and then forgave the loan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
In response, Battle’s daughter not only forgave Burton, but has become an active advocate for his clemency.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
She never forgave Myron for what he said about her.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
Loans can also be forgiven at any period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The Dodgers could be forgiven for believing it will all work out in the end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Investors returning from the Labor Day break could be forgiven for wondering if their eyes were deceiving them, but yes, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were significantly worse than the S&P 500.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Show up on a Wednesday night and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the middle of a busy Saturday.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
There are times when I think you’ve forgiven S. more completely than any of us have.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
"We all make mistakes, we all forget things. It's not the end of the world. If you can go back and make a humour of it the audience are quite forgiving and accepting."
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The point is to notice that stuffing, stripped of its ceremonial duties, is an exceptionally forgiving way to turn bread and whatever else you have into dinner.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Wall Street worked itself into a lather over the idea that the Fed could adopt a more forgiving inflation measure than the personal-consumption-expenditure index the central bank tracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Courts are sometimes more forgiving of burdens on speech when the real focus of a law is conduct, and when any restriction on speech is minor and incidental.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Once the goat was a bad memory in our past, that would be the real revolution we would have to fight: forgiving each other for what we had all let come to pass.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
