forbear
verb
Simple meaning
To refrain from proceeding.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fawrbehrSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
fɔɹˈbɛɹ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay.
intransitive
To control oneself when provoked.
Refrain from doing
transitive
To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from.
intransitive
To refuse; to decline; to withsay; to unheed.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay.
Used this way, forbear is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.