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Another word for forbid

a-z
Verb

  1. To refuse to allow

      1. A ban or inhibition resulting from social custom or emotional aversion.
      2. A prohibition, especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands, excluding something from use, approach, or mention because of its sacred and inviolable nature.
      3. An object, word, or act protected by such a prohibition.
      1. To prohibit; forbid:
      2. To denounce or condemn:
      3. To banish or outlaw (a person):
      1. To forbid by authority:
      2. To prevent; preclude:
      1. A fugitive from the law.
      2. A habitual criminal.
      3. A rebel; a nonconformist:
      1. To prohibit (an action or thing) or forbid (someone) to do something, especially by legal or ecclesiastical order.
      2. To cut or destroy (a line of communication) by firepower so as to halt an enemy's advance.
      3. To confront and halt the activities, advance, or entry of:
      1. To hold back; restrain:
      2. To cause (a person) to behave in a restrained or self-conscious way:
      3. To suppress or restrain (behavior, an impulse, or a desire) consciously or unconsciously.
      1. To direct (a person) to do something; order or urge:
      2. To require or impose (an action or behavior, for example) with authority and emphasis; prescribe.
      3. To prohibit or forbid:
      1. To refuse to allow:
      2. To reject as invalid, untrue, or improper.
      1. To exclude or shut out; bar.
      2. To forbid, hinder, or prevent.
      1. To prohibit (an action) or forbid the use of (something), especially by official decree:
      2. To refuse to allow (someone) to do something, go somewhere, or be a participant; exclude:
      3. Under the former system of apartheid, to deprive (a person suspected of illegal activity) of the right of free movement and association with others.
    See also:

    allow

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for forbid

Verb
      1. The constitutional power of the chief executive of a state or nation to prevent or delay the enactment of legislation passed by the legislature:
      2. An instance in which this right is exercised:
      3. An official document or message from a chief executive stating the reasons for rejection of a bill.
      1. A ban or inhibition resulting from social custom or emotional aversion.
      2. A prohibition, especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands, excluding something from use, approach, or mention because of its sacred and inviolable nature.
      3. An object, word, or act protected by such a prohibition.
      1. A government order prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.
      2. A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation.
      3. A prohibition; a ban:
      1. To prevent from entering; keep out; bar:
      2. To prevent from being included, considered, or accepted; reject:
      3. To put out; expel.
      1. A piece of paper that is a negotiable instrument drawn on a bank and payable on demand to the person identified as the payee. A piece of paper that is a negotiable instrument drawn on a bank and payable on demand to the person identified as the payee.
      1. A solid piece of a hard substance, such as wood, having one or more flat sides.
      2. Such a piece used as a construction member or as a support.
      3. Such a piece upon which chopping or cutting is done:
      1. To indicate unwillingness to do, accept, give, or allow:
      2. To indicate unwillingness (to do something):
      3. To decline to jump (an obstacle). Used of a horse.
      1. To declare untrue; assert to be false:
      2. To refuse to believe; reject:
      3. To refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disavow:
      1. To keep or confine within physical limits:
      2. To prevent or prohibit beyond a certain limit or by restriction:
      1. To refrain from giving or granting:
      2. To keep in check; restrain:
      3. To deduct (withholding tax) from an employee's salary.
      1. A person authorized to examine books, films, or other material and to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable.
      2. An official, as in the armed forces, who examines personal mail and official dispatches to remove information considered secret or a risk to security.
      3. One that condemns or censures.
      1. To keep from happening; avert:
      2. To keep (a person or thing) from doing something; impede:
      3. To anticipate or counter in advance.
      1. A relatively long, straight, rigid piece of solid material used as a fastener, support, barrier, or structural or mechanical member.
      2. A solid oblong block of a substance or combination of ingredients, such as soap or candy.
      3. Any of various flat baked confections that are typically dense and harder than cakes and served cut into rectangular pieces.
      1. To block or fill (a passage or opening) with obstacles or an obstacle.
      2. To impede, retard, or interfere with; hinder:
      3. To be or get in the way of (a view or something to be seen).
      1. To obstruct or delay the progress of:
      2. To interfere with action or progress.
      1. To annul or invalidate:
      2. To decide or announce that (a planned or scheduled event) will not take place, especially with no intention of holding it at a later time:
      3. To cross out with lines or other markings.
      1. To be or act in contention or conflict with:
      2. To be hostile or resistant to; try to prevent:
      3. To set as an opposite in position:
      1. To refuse to allow:
      2. To reject as invalid, untrue, or improper.
      1. To prohibit; forbid:
      2. To denounce or condemn:
      3. To banish or outlaw (a person):
      1. To make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent.
      2. To exclude or prevent (someone) from a given condition or activity:
      1. To hold back; restrain:
      2. To cause (a person) to behave in a restrained or self-conscious way:
      3. To suppress or restrain (behavior, an impulse, or a desire) consciously or unconsciously.
      1. To hold back or keep in check; control:
      2. To prevent (a person or group) from doing something or acting in a certain way:
      3. To hold, fasten, or secure so as to prevent or limit movement:
      1. A fugitive from the law.
      2. A habitual criminal.
      3. A rebel; a nonconformist:
      1. To direct (a person) to do something; order or urge:
      2. To require or impose (an action or behavior, for example) with authority and emphasis; prescribe.
      3. To prohibit or forbid:
      1. To prohibit (an action or thing) or forbid (someone) to do something, especially by legal or ecclesiastical order.
      2. To cut or destroy (a line of communication) by firepower so as to halt an enemy's advance.
      3. To confront and halt the activities, advance, or entry of:
      1. To exclude or shut out; bar.
      2. To forbid, hinder, or prevent.
      1. To prohibit (an action) or forbid the use of (something), especially by official decree:
      2. To refuse to allow (someone) to do something, go somewhere, or be a participant; exclude:
      3. Under the former system of apartheid, to deprive (a person suspected of illegal activity) of the right of free movement and association with others.
      1. To forbid by authority:
      2. To prevent; preclude:
    See also:

    halt

    Antonyms:

Synonym Study

  • Ban implies legal or ecclesiastical prohibition with an added connotation of strong condemnation or censure
  • Enjoin implies a legal order from a court prohibiting (or ordering) a given action, under penalty
  • Interdict implies legal or ecclesiastical prohibition, usually for a limited time, as an exemplary punishment or to forestall unfavorable developments
  • Prohibit implies a forbidding by law or official decree
  • Forbid is the basic, direct word meaning to command a person to refrain from some action
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • There are ancient laws that forbid it.

  • "I suppose you'll forbid it," she said, eyeing him.

  • "After this, you'll forbid me from learning?" she demanded.

  • How can you forbid or restrict its use in any way?

  • So I'm going to be stuck on a planet far away without a bus ticket home surrounded by spiders the size of basketballs and being bossed around by Neanderthal barbarians who forbid me to talk and lock me in the bathroom!

More sentences →

Words that mention forbid in the Dictionary

Words near forbid in the Thesaurus