noun
-
the act of forgiving or the state of being forgiven
-
willingness to forgive
Other Word Forms
- preforgiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of forgiveness
before 900; Middle English forgifenesse, Old English forgifennys. See forgive, -ness
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.
They fell on the ground and tearfully begged forgiveness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
And then—maybe—an acknowledgment that forgiveness is a virtue.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
“There are almost 800,000 outstanding applications — income-driven repayment, consolidation requests, forgiveness forms — all of it is massively delayed,” said Natalia Abrams, president and founder of the Student Debt Crisis Center.
From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026
For years afterward, her loans haunted her, with loan servicers telling her that they didn’t qualify for public service loan forgiveness.
From Salon • Mar. 17, 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.
