The core forbearance meaning is patient self-control: choosing not to react, punish, complain or demand something even though you have the right or the reason to. If a friend keeps you waiting and you calmly let it go, you show forbearance.
Banks and lenders also rely on the word. A loan forbearance is an agreement in which a lender lets a borrower pause or lower payments for a while during hardship. This guide gives a forbearance definition for both uses, explains how loan forbearance works, and answers a common question: what does forbearance mean in the Bible?
Entry at a glance
Meaning
Patient restraint; holding back from acting on a right, such as collecting a debtPart of speech
Noun (uncountable in the patience sense)Pronunciation
for-BAIR-uhnsWord forms
forbear (verb: forbore, forborne), forbearing (adjective)Origin
forbear + -ance; forbear is from Old English forberan; the noun is first recorded in the 16th century, as a legal term about debtsOpposite
impatience, intolerance, retaliationRegister
Formal; common in finance, law and religious writing
Forbearance meaning in everyday English
- Patience and tolerance. Putting up with annoyance, faults or provocation calmly: She treated her noisy neighbours with forbearance.
- Restraint from doing something. Deliberately not using a right or power you have: the umpire's forbearance in not sending the player off.
- A pause on debt payments. A lender agreeing for a time not to demand full payments or take action over missed ones.
If you had to define forbearance across all three senses, the shared idea is this: someone could act, and chooses to hold back.
How loan forbearance works
Suppose a borrower loses a job and cannot make mortgage or student loan payments for a few months. Instead of declaring the loan in default, the lender may agree to a forbearance period. Payments are reduced or paused, but the debt does not disappear.
Forbearance differs from deferment, a related arrangement on some student loans where interest may not grow on certain loan types, and from a loan modification, which permanently changes the loan terms. The terms vary by country, lender and loan type. See our pages on a mortgage and on deferred payments for related ideas.
What does forbearance mean in the Bible?
In the Bible, forbearance usually describes patient restraint, either God's or a believer's. Older English translations of the letter to the Romans use the word for God holding back judgment and giving people time to turn around (Romans 2:4 and 3:25). The letters to the Ephesians and Colossians use the related verb when they urge believers to be forbearing one another, that is, to bear with each other's faults in love. Some modern translations also list forbearance among the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, where older versions say longsuffering.
Christian teachers often link it with patience, mercy and grace: forbearance is the holding back, mercy is not giving a deserved penalty, and grace is giving an undeserved gift.
Sentences using forbearance
- The teacher showed real forbearance with a class that kept testing her rules.
- Thanks to the bank's forbearance, the shop survived a slow winter.
- He asked for his family's forbearance while he worked late every night before the exam.
- The two countries exercised forbearance and avoided a costly trade war.
- Her forbearing smile hid how tired she was of the same complaint.
Forbear, forebear and close words
Forbear (for-BAIR) is a verb meaning to hold back: she forbore to comment. Forebear (FOR-bair) is a noun meaning an ancestor: my forebears farmed this valley. Many writers use forbear for both, and some dictionaries accept that for the ancestor sense, but keeping them apart is clearer.
| Word | How it differs |
|---|---|
| forbearance | active choice to hold back, often when provoked |
| patience | calmly waiting or enduring, no provocation needed |
| tolerance | accepting what you dislike or disagree with |
| restraint | control of actions or feelings in general |
| leniency | giving a milder punishment than allowed |
Origin and early legal use
The verb forbear goes back to Old English forberan, made of for- (away, off) and beran (to bear or carry). Forbearance was formed by adding the ending -ance. Word historians record it first in the 16th century as a legal term for holding off on enforcing a debt, which is exactly the modern banking sense. The wider meaning of patient self-restraint followed within a few decades.
For other formal words about character and behaviour, browse our everyday vocabulary hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is forbearance a positive word?
Yes, in the patience sense it is praise: it suggests maturity and self-control. In finance it is neutral, describing a practical arrangement that can still cost the borrower more over time.
Does forbearance hurt your credit?
It depends on the country, the lender and how the account is reported. An agreed forbearance is usually treated better than simply missing payments, but you should confirm with the lender how it will be recorded.
What is the difference between forbearance and deferment?
Both pause or lower payments for a time. With some student loans, deferment can stop interest growing on certain loans, while forbearance generally lets interest keep adding up. The exact rules depend on the loan.
What is the definition of forbearance in one sentence?
Forbearance is the patient choice not to act against someone even when you could, whether that means not losing your temper or not demanding a loan payment yet.
How do you pronounce forbearance?
Say for-BAIR-uhns. The middle part sounds like the animal bear, and the stress falls there.
What is a forbearance agreement?
It is a written deal in which a lender agrees not to take certain actions, such as foreclosing or calling in a loan, for a set time while the borrower meets agreed conditions.