forbid
Americanverb (used with object)
-
forbids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forbade,
past participle, past
-
forbid,
past participle, past
-
forbad,
past (Archaic)
-
forbidden,
past participle
-
forbidding
present participle
-
to command (a person) not to do something, have something, etc., or not to enter some place.
She forbade him entry to the house.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
-
to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against.
to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.
- Synonyms:
- interdict
-
to hinder or prevent; make impossible.
-
to exclude; bar.
Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.
verb
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to prohibit (a person) in a forceful or authoritative manner (from doing something or having something)
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to make impossible; hinder
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to shut out or exclude
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may it not happen
Synonym Usage
Forbid, inhibit, prohibit, taboo indicate a command to refrain from some action. Forbid, a common and familiar word, usually denotes a direct or personal command of this sort: I forbid you to go. It was useless to forbid children to play in the park. Inhibit implies a checking or hindering of impulses by the mind, sometimes involuntarily: to inhibit one's desires; His responsiveness was inhibited by extreme shyness. Prohibit, a formal or legal word, means usually to forbid by official edict, enactment, or the like: to prohibit the sale of liquor. Taboo, primarily associated with primitive superstition, means to prohibit by common disapproval and by social custom: to taboo a subject in polite conversation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forbidsimple
-
forbidssimple
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have forbadeperfect
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have forbidperfect
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have forbiddenperfect
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has forbadeperfect
-
has forbidperfect
-
has forbiddenperfect
-
am forbiddingprogressive
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are forbiddingprogressive
-
is forbiddingprogressive
-
have been forbiddingperfect progressive
-
has been forbiddingperfect progressive
Past
-
forbadsimple
-
forbadesimple
-
forbidsimple
-
had forbadeperfect
-
had forbidperfect
-
had forbiddenperfect
-
was forbiddingprogressive
-
were forbiddingprogressive
-
had been forbiddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forbid
First recorded before 1000; Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid 1
Explanation
When you forbid something, you refuse to allow it. You might have heard your parents say things like, "I forbid you to play ball in the house!" or "I forbid you to have any more parties when we're not home!" Forbid comes from the Old English word forbeodan, meaning "forbid, prohibit." Forbid can also mean "prevent" or "keep from happening." The spare tire on your car will forbid you from driving any faster than 40 miles an hour — any faster and the car will shake. You may have heard forbid used in the expression "God forbid . . ." This refers to something you hope will not happen, so much so that you're asking God for a little help.
Vocabulary lists containing forbid
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez
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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.
See Examples For:
While most jurisdiction forbid medical help to die, assisted dying laws around the world vary.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Scarier yet, it’s possible that someone—or, heaven forbid, some A.I. detector—might mistake my text for ChatGPT’s.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Since then, strict protocols were put in place to forbid ships from sailing in dangerous conditions, according to Spyridon Roussos, a political scientist and ferry specialist from Paros.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
But it sets no quotas and doesn’t forbid the recruitment of “white and Asian men already trained in the field.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
If he was not horrible to look at, then he was cruel to forbid her ever to behold him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
But the bill names loyalty programs both among the rewards it permits and among those it forbids.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The department has long had a policy that forbids retaliation against officers who report misconduct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
A super-injunction is a court-mandated gagging order that forbids news outlets from reporting private or sensitive information.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Some of those strikes could violate international law, which forbids attacking civilian infrastructure.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
“In his night-shirt he chased the Sister on duty and absolutely forbids anyone at all to go near his bed. Yesterday he got up and went to wash in the coal-box.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
The Meyer decision, for example, overturned a Nebraska law which forbad teaching non-English languages in public and private schools.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2022
Although the theatres were prosperous, their existence was often imperilled by the action of the city magnates, who forbad the acting of plays within their own jurisdiction.
From Shakespeare in the Theatre by William Poel
But the chapter refused him obedience, and the States of Holland forbad him to exercise any official function, and under threat of banishment of all Jesuits demanded the immediate return of the archbishop.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by J. H. Kurtz
Among uninhabitable plains, the traveller is struck by the ruins of innumerable castles and villages, monuments of a time when pestilence was either unfelt, or had at least not forbad the residence of mankind.
From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Henry Hallam
The council of the Bernese government resolved to recall the refractory clergy of the Jura, took their names off the civil register and forbad them to exercise any clerical functions.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by J. H. Kurtz
Common-law rules at the time forbade defendant testimony on the theory that it was self-interested and thus unreliable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
After the judge forbade them from using certain PowerPoint slides, Halem’s former attorneys decided against presenting an opening statement to jurors, scuttling any possibility of a favorable outcome, Weimortz said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
The reason for the separation between the businesses, Corley added, had to do with a defunct local law that forbade the two establishments existing under one umbrella.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
That’s because the rule never forbade criticism of the SEC, but only a defendant’s attempt to deny the allegations or facts in a settlement that it “neither admitted nor denied.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
“I don’t understand this, Katherine. I forbade you — you understood it perfectly — to go to that woman’s house.”
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
By BritBox decree, I am forbidden from reviewing it for now.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
A defense of yelling in restaurants: It’s a forbidden behavior in today’s restaurants—but Amanda Albee spoke to chefs who say it massively improved their careers.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
He is also forbidden from trying to contact Mountbatten-Windsor directly or indirectly, or approach him, or enter Norfolk.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The band said police detained them after the show, and that an investigation led to the band being forbidden from performing in the country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
The permission slip had clearly stated that students were forbidden to make any purchases.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
F1 drivers' contracts usually have clauses in them forbidding them from doing 'dangerous sports', such as skiing or scuba diving, although not every driver's contract is the same.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Daniels isn’t pleased, informing LSU through his attorney that he “feels profoundly disrespected” and forbidding the school to use his name, image and likeness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
If your niece’s mother lives there rent-free, the trustee should be comfortable that doing so benefits your niece and there should be no rules forbidding it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
On Wednesday, China enacted rules forbidding chatbots designed for companionship from encouraging emotional reliance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
At the end of the distracted driving conference, Secretary LaHood announced that President Obama had signed an order forbidding federal employees from texting while driving during work hours.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
