Definition

1. Verb (past tense of ):
   • To stop feeling anger or resentment toward someone for an offense or mistake: "forgave" means to cease to blame or hold a grudge against someone after they have done something wrong.
   • To cancel a debt or obligation: In a financial or moral sense, "forgave" can mean to release someone from a debt or penalty.

Usage Examples

• Emotional forgiveness:

  • She forgave him for lying about his past. (She stopped feeling angry or hurt about his dishonesty.)
  • After years of silence, the siblings forgave each other for the argument. (They reconciled and let go of resentment.)

• Financial forgiveness:

  • The bank forgave the loan after the borrower faced hardship. (The bank canceled the debt.)
  • He forgave the small debt his friend owed him. (He chose not to demand repayment.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be forgiven": used in passive constructions to indicate that forgiveness has been granted.
  • His mistake was forgiven by everyone. (All people stopped blaming him.)
• "forgave and forgot": a common pairing meaning to forgive completely and not remember the offense.
  • They forgave and forgot the quarrel, moving on as friends. (They released all memory of the conflict.)

Variants and Related Words

• Forgive (v, present tense): the base form.
  • I forgive you for the mistake. (I release my anger now.)
• Forgiven (v, past participle): used in perfect tenses.
  • She has forgiven him for his rudeness. (The action of forgiving is complete.)
• Forgiveness (n): the act of forgiving.
  • He asked for her forgiveness. (He requested that she stop blaming him.)
• Forgiving (adj): willing to forgive easily.
  • She is a very forgiving person. (She tends not to hold grudges.)

Synonyms

• Pardoned: to officially release someone from punishment or blame.
  • The governor pardoned the prisoner. (He forgave the crime and set him free.)
• Excused: to overlook a fault or offense.
  • She excused his bad behavior because he was tired. (She forgave it due to circumstances.)
• Absolved: to declare free from guilt or blame (often formal or religious).
  • The priest absolved him of his sins. (He was forgiven in a religious sense.)

Phrasal Verbs

• Forgive for: to forgive someone regarding a specific action.
  • She forgave him for forgetting her birthday. (She stopped being angry about that particular event.)
• Forgive of: rarely used, but can mean to forgive someone for a debt.
  • He forgave his friend of the money owed. (He released the debt.)

Related Idioms

• To forgive and forget: to completely forgive and not hold a grudge.
  • After the apology, they decided to forgive and forget. (They moved on without resentment.)
• To err is human, to forgive divine: a proverb meaning that making mistakes is natural, but forgiving is a noble act.
  • She quoted, "To err is human, to forgive divine," when she forgave him. (She acknowledged the difficulty of forgiving.)