forgiving

adjective

for·​giv·​ing fər-ˈgi-viŋ How to pronounce forgiving (audio)
fȯr-
1
: willing or able to forgive
2
: allowing room for error or weakness
designed to be a forgiving tennis racquet
forgivingly adverb
forgivingness noun

Example Sentences

a person with a forgiving nature
Recent Examples on the Web These will all definitely affect the taste, but this is generally a forgiving recipe. Christopher Michel, Country Living, 19 Mar. 2023 On the flipside, Gen Z is more forgiving after a bad experience as compared to older generations. Jeff Fromm, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023 The same forgiving light of altruism—of benevolent rescue—that shined on the Harts as adoptive parents also cast the kids’ birth families under a shadow of permanent guilt and suspicion. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2023 However, Wall Street has become less forgiving of media companies that lose huge sums on streaming. Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2023 While the superhero flick was largely panned, critics have been more forgiving with Majors' standout performance. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 5 Mar. 2023 Hot dogs come in various sizes, and puff pastry is full of fat and so forgiving. Ann Maloney, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2022 Next season’s slate which will be a little more forgiving than a 2022 schedule that featured the gauntlet of consecutive games with Syracuse, NC State and Michigan in September. Kels Dayton, Hartford Courant, 22 Dec. 2022 While the new data limits are in some ways more forgiving than Comcast's data cap, the change may be concerning to Starlink users who have already seen slower speeds in recent months. Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'forgiving.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1623, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of forgiving was in 1623

Dictionary Entries Near forgiving

Cite this Entry

“Forgiving.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forgiving. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

Kids Definition

forgiving

adjective
for·​giv·​ing
fər-ˈgiv-iŋ,
fȯr-
1
: showing forgiveness : inclined or ready to forgive
a person with a forgiving nature
2
: allowing for human error or weakness
a tennis racket designed to be forgiving
forgivingly adverb
forgivingness noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!


A Good Old-Fashioned Quiz

True or False

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can with using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.

Can you make 12 words with 7 letters?

PLAY