forbid
Syllables: for·bidUK/fəˈbɪd//fɚˈbɪd/
forbid verb: to disallow; to proscribe.
Verb
forbid (third-person singular simple present forbids, present participle forbidding, simple past forbade or forbad or (nonstandard) forbidded or forbid, past participle forbidden)
- To disallow; to proscribe.
- Smoking in the restaurant is forbidden.
- […] the Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade any sort of comment on the sudden disappearance of one's friends at any moment, for any reason or no reason whatever.1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC
- To deny, exclude from, or warn off, by express command.
- Have I not forbid her my house?c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- To oppose, hinder, or prevent, as if by an effectual command.
- An impassable river forbids the approach of the army.
- a blaze of glory that forbids the sight1687, [John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC
- To accurse; to blast.
- He shall live a man forbid.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- To defy; to challenge.
- What part of "no" do you forbid to understand?
- So there is a resemblance between the partie that here gives licence to come to the tree of life, and the other that forbid to come to it. The one threatned with a sword; the other promiseth to the persons that keep the condition here expressed1598, Lancelot Andrewes, sermon preached in the Parish Church of St. Giles without Cripplegate, London
forbid meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
forbid in Hindi
- to disallow
- रोकना roknā, मना करना manā karnā
forbid in Tamil
- தடை செய்
forbid in Urdu
- حرام کرنا, منع کرنا
forbid in Bengali
- to disallow
- নিষেধ করা niśedh kora
More languagesFewer languages
- forbid in Telugu
- నివారించు nivāriñcu
- forbid in Malayalam
- വിലക്കുക vilakkuka, തടയുക taṭayuka
- forbid in Kannada
- ನಿಷೇಧಿಸು, ಪ್ರತಿಬಂಧಿಸು, ತಪ್ಪಿಸು, ಆಗಗೊಡದಿರು
- forbid in Arabic
- حَرَّمَ ḥarrama, حَظَرَ ḥaẓara, مَنَعَ manaʕa
- forbid in Malay
- larang
- forbid in Indonesian
- larang, melarang
- forbid in Persian
- منع کردن man' kardan, غیر مجاز کردن ġayr-e mojâz kardan, بازداشتن bāzdāštan, پنامیدن panāmidan
- forbid in Thai
- ห้าม hâam, ปราม bpraam
- forbid in Vietnamese
- cấm, cấm chỉ, ngăn cấm
- forbid in Myanmar
- တား ta:, မြစ် mrac, ပညတ် pa.nyat
Examples of forbid in a sentence
- If, God forbid, there's a fire, head for the nearest exit.
- A: Do you think he'll win the election? B: God forbid!
- Many societies forbid marriage between parallel cousins, but encourage marriage between cross-cousins or second cross-cousins.
Synonyms of forbid
Forms of forbid
| third-person singular present | forbids |
|---|---|
| present participle | forbidding |
| past | forbade |
| past | forbad |
| past | forbid |
| past participle | forbidden |
| past (nonstandard) | forbidded |
Origin of forbid
From Middle English forbeden, from Old English forbēodan (“to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul”), from Proto-Germanic *furibeudaną, from *furi + *beudaną. Equivalent to for- (“from, away”) + bid (“to offer, proclaim”). Cognate with Dutch verbieden (“to forbid”), German verbieten (“to forbid”), Danish forbyde (“to forbid”), Norwegian Bokmål forby (“to forbid”), Swedish förbjuda (“to forbid”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (faurbiudan). Related to forbode.
Words formed from forbid
Words that rhyme with forbid
Questions about forbid
- What does forbid mean?
- Forbid means to disallow; to proscribe.
- What is forbid in Hindi?
- Forbid in Hindi is रोकना (roknā), मना करना (manā karnā). See Forbid meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is forbid?
- Forbid is a verb.
- How do you pronounce forbid?
- Forbid is pronounced /fəˈbɪd/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of forbid?
- The past tense of forbid is forbade.
Words near forbid in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forbid (page history and authors); forbid (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); forbid (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); నివారించు (Telugu) (page history and authors); forbid (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-forbid.ogg.
Cite this entry: “forbid.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forbid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.