William Shakespeare
Did you know?
Forebear (also spelled, less commonly, as forbear) was first used by our ancestors in the days of Middle English. Fore- means "coming before," just as in forefather, and -bear means "one that is." This -bear is not to be confused with the -bear in the unrelated verb forbear, which comes from Old English beran, meaning "to bear or carry." The -bear in the noun forebear is a combination of be-, from the verb be (or, more specifically, from been, an old dialect variant of be), and -ar, a form of the suffix -er, which we append to verbs to denote one that performs a specified action. In this case the "action" is simply existing or being—in other words, -bear implies one who is a "be-er."
Examples of forbear in a Sentence
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
4 June 2026
If Mamdani seems curiously forbearing toward Amin, given his own history, that has much to do with what happened next.
—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Absent the lush melancholy of classic synth-pop, what Hervé and Amato had in common with their forbears was a spirit of innovation rooted in profound laziness.
—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
23 May 2026
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
Since then, Istanbul has seen only mayors from his AKP party and its forebears, the Welfare and Virtue parties.
—
Kaya Genç,
The Dial,
9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for forbear
Cite this Entry
“Forbear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forbear. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
forbear
1 of 2 verb
forbear
2 of 2variant of forebear
