forbid

[ fer-bid, fawr- ]

verb (used with object)

, for·bade or for·bad or for·bid, for·bid·den or for·bid, for·bid·ding.

1. 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

2. to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against:

   to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.

   Synonyms: interdict

3. to hinder or prevent; make impossible.

   Synonyms: deter, obviate, stop, preclude

4. to exclude; bar:

   Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.

forbid

/ fəˈbɪd /

verb

1. to prohibit (a person) in a forceful or authoritative manner (from doing something or having something)
2. to make impossible; hinder
3. to shut out or exclude
4. God forbid!
   may it not happen

Derived Forms

• forˈbidder, noun
• forˈbiddance, noun

Other Words From

• for·bidder noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of forbid¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of forbid¹

Old English forbēodan ; related to Old High German farbiotan , Gothic faurbiudan ; see for- , bid

Idioms and Phrases

see god forbid .

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

The “Transformers” actor previously had an ectopic pregnancy and “other things that I’m not going to say because God forbid the world will be in an uproar,” she told Women’s Wear Daily last year.

From Los Angeles Times

He would not do so as chief, McDonnell has said, because department rules forbid it.

From Los Angeles Times

“They really want to know, and that’s quite fun to act. God forbid that there should be anything going on that men don’t ultimately know about or control.”

From Los Angeles Times

A few days later, the US justice department warned that the group could be breaking election laws, which forbid paying people to register to vote.

From BBC

In an emergency appeal, the RNC lawyers said the justices should overturn a recent ruling by Pennsylvania’s state supreme court and forbid the counting of provisional ballots by voters who made a mistake in submitting their mail ballots.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ban
• block
• cancel
• censor
• deny
• deprive
• disallow
• enjoin
• exclude
• freeze
• halt
• hinder
• impede
• inhibit
• oppose
• preclude
• prevent
• proscribe
• restrain
• restrict