forbidden
for·bid·den/fɚˈbɪdən/adjective, verb
forbidden is spelled F-O-R-B-I-D-D-E-N, 3 syllables: for·bid·den. The wrong spelling people search most is forbiden: about 60 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 32 of all searches for the word. Forbidden is an adjective meaning “Not allowed; specifically disallowed”.
How many letters and syllables are in forbidden?
| Letters | 9: F-O-R-B-I-D-D-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: for·bid·den |
| In writing | 9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, forbiden, about 60 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell forbidden?
Forbidden is spelled F-O-R-B-I-D-D-E-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 32 of the searches for forbidden in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is forbidden?
Forbidden appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce forbidden?
- UK /fəˈbɪdən/
- UK [fəːˈbɪdən] ~ [fəˈbɪdn̩]
- US /fɚˈbɪdən/
Forbidden has 3 syllables, split for·bid·den in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-forbidden.ogg, En-us-forbidden.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of forbidden
- more forbidden comparative
- most forbidden superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does forbidden mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not allowed; specifically disallowed.
verb
- 1
past participle of forbid
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forbidden in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not allowed:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does forbidden come from?
Past participle of the verb forbid. Doublet of verboten. Compare German verboten, Dutch verboden, Swedish förbjuden, and West Frisian ferbean.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).