Meanings
comparative more forgivable · superlative most forgivable
- Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.
In retrospect, the misunderstanding about the plan was forgivable […]
2016, Jessi Klein, You'll Grow Out of It, Hachette UK, →ISBN1 more example
It's even forgivable here when the band sometimes sounds as though they've phoned in the Stonesy swagger, because when they're on, the Hellacopters sound like the best garage rock/bar band in the world.
2004, CMJ New Music Report, number 872, page 6Synonyms: excusable, pardonable, venial, remissable · Antonyms: unforgivable, unvenial
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAble to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveeasily excused or forgiven
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From forgive + -able. Partially displaced non-native Middle English pardonable (“capable of being pardoned, forgivable”) from Old French pardonable (“forgivable”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian простим
- простим (prostim)able to be forgiven
Danish tilgivelig
- tilgiveligable to be forgiven
Dutch vergeeflijk
- vergeeflijkable to be forgiven
Esperanto pardonebla
- pardoneblaable to be forgiven
Finnish anteeksiannettava
- anteeksiannettavaable to be forgiven
French pardonnable, excusable
- pardonnableable to be forgiven
- excusableable to be forgiven
- vénielable to be forgiven
German verzeihlich
- verzeihlichable to be forgiven
Norwegian Bokmål tilgivelig
- tilgiveligable to be forgiven
Polish wybaczalny
- wybaczalnyable to be forgiven
Portuguese perdoável
- perdoávelable to be forgiven
Romanian iertabil, scuzabil
- iertabilable to be forgiven
- scuzabilable to be forgiven
Russian прости́тельный
- прости́тельный (prostítelʹnyj)able to be forgiven
Swedish förlåtlig
- förlåtligable to be forgiven
Cite this entry
forgivable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgivable
“forgivable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgivable. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forgivable,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgivable.
Source: forgivable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.