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
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forgivesimple
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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
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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:
The food alone made the day’s mileage seem like a bargain: octopus in Galicia, Arzúa-Ulloa cheese from a farmers market or milk-fed lamb that made me forgive every hill in Castilla y León.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Once William accedes to the throne and becomes head of the Church of England it will be his Christian duty "to forgive his brother".
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
But the world’s most prestigious clubs—Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and Manchester United—were prepared to forgive all of that, just as long as he brought home trophies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Now, however, I am a senior citizen who can look at events with the benefit of perspective and hindsight, and thus I have decided to forgive Don Nelson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Not when I need Lou Ann to forgive me as much as I do right now.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
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
She forgives the debt of three men so they’ll change their names to Roy Tillman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
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
He tells me God forgives me and I must forgive myself, that God loves me and I must love myself for only when you love God in yourself can you love all God’s creatures.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
I never forgave him for leaving us and hurting my mother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
In response, Battle’s daughter not only forgave Burton, but has become an active advocate for his clemency.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
In each instance, despite her pain, Davis forgave him, trusting in the underlying strength of their bond.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
The mosque's chairman previously told BBC Scotland News he forgave the teenager and had sympathy for his family.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025
Zakariyya blamed his father for Henrietta’s death, hated him for burying her in an unmarked grave, and never forgave him for leaving the children with Ethel.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
There’s a lot going on when you first have a baby, so perhaps new parents can be forgiven for not having everything together right away.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
In a world where everyone is carrying smartphones and setting up Ring cameras, you could be forgiven for thinking the war is over and the surveillance state won.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
You'd be forgiven for not being familiar with this organisation.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
You could be forgiven for thinking Christopher Nolan doesn’t give much thought to what the audience wants.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
I would never have forgiven that horrible old woman.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
She said the camp teaches children about forgiveness, so she and her husband put that lesson into practice by forgiving the people who took the trailer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
While England did benefit from some fixtures being played in air-conditioned stadiums with roofs, such as in Atlanta against DR Congo, other conditions were less forgiving.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
But when it came to Racicot’s allegations, he was a lot more forgiving.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
The marriage with NBCUniversal, once centered on the power of making and delivering TV, was strained by the ascendance of streaming and its far less forgiving economics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 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.
