Meaning & use
forbidden
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“forbidden” is a form of “forbid”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Not permitted by a rule, law or person in authority.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: forbidden fruit, smoking is forbidden.
Patterns
- forbidden to do something
- forbidden by something
Smoking is forbidden inside the building.
The students are forbidden to use phones during the exam.
The royal garden was forbidden to ordinary visitors.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurative
Attractive because it is not allowed or is secret.
Grammar: Often figurative: forbidden love.
The novel is about forbidden love between two rival families.
Eating late-night snacks was his forbidden pleasure.
verbtransitive
Past participle of forbid: ordered someone not to do something.
Grammar: Used in the passive or perfect: she was forbidden to leave.
Patterns
- forbidden to do something
She had been forbidden to speak.
The treaty forbade the building of new forts, which later made them forbidden.
Word forms
| base form | forbid |
|---|---|
| past tense | forbade |
| -ing form | forbidding |
Common combinations
- strictly forbidden
- Photography is strictly forbidden in the gallery.
- forbidden fruit
- For the teenager, a late night was forbidden fruit.
- forbidden to enter
- Visitors are forbidden to enter the lab.
- forbidden zone
- The forbidden zone is closed to the public.
- forbidden love
- The play tells a story of forbidden love.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prohibited
- Prohibited is more formal and common on signs and in law.
- banned
- Banned implies an official decision against something that was once allowed.
- taboo
- Taboo means forbidden by social custom rather than by an official rule.
- off-limits
- Off-limits is casual and refers to places or topics you may not enter or discuss.
Opposites
Word family
- forbid verb
- to order someone not to do something
- forbidding adjective
- looking unfriendly or threatening
- forbade verb
- past tense of forbid
- forbiddingly adverb
- in a stern or unwelcoming way
Commonly confused: forbidden or forbidding? forbidden or forbade?
forbidden vs forbidding
Forbidding means looking harsh and unfriendly, as in a forbidding cliff, not simply banned.
forbidden vs forbade
Forbade is the past tense and forbidden is the past participle: she forbade it, it was forbidden.
Practice
Visitors are strictly ___ to touch the paintings.
Choose one answer.
After 'are strictly', the passive participle forbidden is needed, followed by 'to touch'. 'Forbidding' would mean unfriendly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “forbidden”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.