Forbidden

UK: /fə^rˈbɪd^ən/ US: (fər bid′n, fôr-)

From the verb forbid: (⇒ conjugate)

forbidden is: ⓘ

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

for•bid /fɚˈbɪd, fɔr-/   v., -bade or -bad or -bid, -bid•den or -bid, -bid•ding. 

1. to command (a person) not to do something: [~ + object + object]
   I forbid you entry to this house.
   [~ + object + to + verb]
   forbade me to see him again.
2. to prohibit (something):
   [~ + object] to forbid smoking in public places.
3. to prevent:
   [~ + object] Loyalty forbids any further comment.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

for•bid•den  (fər bid′n, fôr-), v. 

1. a pp. of forbid. 

adj. 

2. not allowed;
   prohibited:
   a forbidden food in his religion.
3. Physics involving a change in quantum numbers that is not permitted by the selection rules:
   forbidden transition.

for•bid′den•ly, adv. 
for•bid′den•ness, n. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

for•bid  (fər bid′, fôr-), v.t., -bade or -bad or -bid, -bid•den or -bid, -bid•ding. 

1. to command (a person) not to do something, have something, etc., or not to enter some place:
   to forbid him entry to the house.
2. to prohibit (something);
   make a rule or law against:
   to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.
3. to hinder or prevent;
   make impossible.
4. to exclude;
   bar:
   Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.

• Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid¹ bef. 1000

for•bid′der, n. 
Synonyms

• 1, 2. interdict.
  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.
• 3. preclude, stop, obviate, deter.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

forbidden / fəˈbɪd^ən/ adjective

1. not permitted by order or law
2. involving a change in quantum numbers that is not permitted by certain rules derived from quantum mechanics, esp rules for changes in the electrical dipole moment of the system

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

forbid / fəˈbɪd/ verb ( -bids, -bidding, -bade, -bad, -bidden, -bid)(transitive)

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

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

forˈbidder noun