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.
Loans couldn’t enter default during this time, and federal programs designed to help delinquent borrowers and debt forgiveness initiatives brought millions out of default.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
After an ex blocks them by phone and on social media, they can still send a one-cent transfer with a short message begging for forgiveness in the transaction description.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Under the terms of RAP, borrowers need to make on-time monthly payments if they want them counted toward forgiveness or to get a principal-matching payment that some borrowers enrolled in RAP will be eligible for.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
She also said that years after it happened, she became aware he had asked for Complainant B's forgiveness at a meeting in Armoy.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 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.
