forgiveness

forgiveness — noun

1. the decision to stop being angry with someone who has harmed you, or the act of

1.nounB1
Definition

the decision to stop being angry with someone who has harmed you, or the act of asking someone to stop being angry with you for something wrong you did

Example

After breaking her sister’s tablet, Élise asked for her forgiveness.

ask for forgiveness

Padma offered her forgiveness to the classmate who had copied her homework.

offer forgiveness

Common collocations
  • ask for forgiveness
  • beg for forgiveness
  • seek forgiveness
  • offer forgiveness
  • grant forgiveness
  • find forgiveness
  • forgiveness for
Synonyms
  • pardon

    more formal and often legal or official; forgiveness is personal and everyday

  • mercy

    focuses on showing compassion by not punishing; forgiveness is about letting go of anger

  • absolution

    religious context only, declared by a priest; forgiveness is general

Antonyms
  • resentment

    the angry feeling that forgiveness sets aside

  • blame

    holding someone responsible, the opposite of letting go

  • vengeance

    the desire to punish, which forgiveness chooses to release

Usage Note

Commonly used with verbs such as 'ask for', 'beg for', 'seek', 'offer', 'grant', or 'find'. The preposition 'for' typically follows to specify the wrong act (e.g., 'forgiveness for a mistake'). This noun is uncountable and is not used with the article 'a'.

Common Mistakes

I asked for his forgive.
I asked for his forgiveness.
'forgive' is a verb; the noun form is 'forgiveness'.
He gave me a forgiveness for being late.
He gave me forgiveness for being late.
'forgiveness' is uncountable; do not use 'a' before it.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Forgiveness, pardon, mercy, absolution, and amnesty all involve letting someone off for a wrongdoing, but they differ in context and register. Forgiveness is the broadest, most everyday term — it describes a personal emotional decision to stop feeling angry or resentful. Pardon is more formal and often legal or political, such as when a governor pardons a prisoner. Mercy emphasises compassion and the choice not to punish someone who deserves it, implying a power imbalance, as when a judge shows mercy. Absolution is primarily religious, referring to a priest’s declaration that a person’s sins are forgiven. Amnesty is a legal or political term for a group pardon covering past offenses. For example: ‘She found the strength to offer forgiveness to her brother.’ ‘The governor granted him a full pardon.’ ‘The judge showed mercy and gave a light sentence.’

pardon ↗mercy ↗absolutionamnesty

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • ask for forgiveness
  • beg for forgiveness
  • seek forgiveness
  • offer forgiveness
  • grant forgiveness
  • a plea for forgiveness
  • in a spirit of forgiveness

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

Forgiveness comes from Old English 'forgiefan', a combination of 'for-' (meaning 'away' or 'completely') and 'giefan' (meaning 'to give'). So the original sense was 'to give away completely' — that is, to give up the desire to punish or blame. Over time the spelling changed through Middle English 'forgiven' to the modern form, and the word developed its current emotional and relational meaning of releasing anger toward someone who has wronged you.