forbearance
/fəˈbɛːɹ(ə)n(t)s/
forbearance means the action of forbearing (“abstaining or refraining from doing something”); (countable) an instance of this. It carries an Arena rating of 1858, earned across 29 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, forbearance ranks #4,557 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,738 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #5,004 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,491 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
forbearance is pronounced /fəˈbɛːɹ(ə)n(t)s/.
Why “forbearance” is a great word
A conscious, willful restraint from action or retaliation, especially under provocation, or the act of refraining from enforcing a debt or right. From forbear (to refrain or abstain) and the noun-forming suffix -ance, first attested in legal contexts in the mid-16th century. Unlike "patience" (which denotes enduring waiting) or "leniency" (which suggests mildness in judgment), forbearance is the deliberate withholding of a power one legitimately holds. It is the creditor who silently tears up the bill, the wronged party who swallows the retort, the hand that hovers over the bell and does not ring it—a quiet, costly victory over the instinct to act, where restraint becomes its own kind of strength.
Etymology
From forbear (“to keep away from, avoid”) + -ance (suffix forming nouns indicating conditions or states).
noun
- The action of forbearing (“abstaining or refraining from doing something”); (countable) an instance of this.
- The action of forbearing (“abstaining or refraining from doing something”); (countable) an instance of this.; The action of refraining from enforcing something which is due (such as a debt or obligation) or a right which one has; (countable) an instance of this.
- The action of forbearing (“abstaining or refraining from doing something”); (countable) an instance of this.; Restraint and tolerance under provocation; patient self-control; indulgence, lenity.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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