noun
-
the act of forgiving or the state of being forgiven
-
willingness to forgive
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of forgiveness
before 900; Middle English forgifenesse, Old English forgifennys. See forgive, -ness
Explanation
Compassionate feelings for someone that make it easier to forgive that person for some offense can be called forgiveness. Feelings of forgiveness make it easier to feel empathy toward people who have harmed you. If you give someone a break and forgive some misdeed or mistake, you are practicing the act of forgiveness. If your sister borrows your favorite white sweater without asking, it's easy to offer her forgiveness. If your sister borrows your favorite white sweater without asking and spills a glass of chocolate milk on it, forgiveness may be a little harder to grant.
Vocabulary lists containing forgiveness
Ceremony
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Shiloh
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for April 22–April 28, 2023
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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.
But he has long taken the spiritual demand to speak truth to power seriously, and balanced it always with a belief in the power of forgiveness.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Since she works in a nonprofit hospital system in Florida, she also qualified for public service loan forgiveness after 10 years of payments.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
"I like that the movie deals with the ideas of realisation, forgiveness, reconciliation, reclamation," she adds.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
He’s the chief living representative of the new covenant between God and man that allows all to seek forgiveness for their sins.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2026
He had loathed Snape from their first encounter, but Snape had placed himself forever and irrevocably beyond the possibility of Harry’s forgiveness by his attitude toward Sirius.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
