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Glite Dictionary
God forfend

God forfend

9.9
May God stop something bad from happening
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : Dios no lo quiera
  • The villagers prayed, saying, "God forfend the river should flood again this year."

Examples

  • God forfend that we ever experience another war like that.

  • If, God forfend, anything happens, please call me immediately.

  • God forfend that we should face such a calamity again.

  • If, God forfend, harm befalls my family, I will do everything to protect them.

  • The wise elder cautioned, "God forfend our village suffers from drought this season."

Synonyms

God forbid
vsGod forfend
  • Informal
22 6.6

To show a strong wish that something bad will not happen

is phrased as a formal 'may' wish asking prevention rather than a plain hope
Heaven forbid
vsGod forfend
  • Informal
3 7.7

I hope nothing bad happens

uses a formal 'may' request rather than a short exclamation of hope
to heaven forfend
vsGod forfend
  • Archaic
9.9

To say you do not want something bad to happen

uses a named divine figure rather than a general sacred power

Antonyms

to permit
531 1.5

To allow someone to do something

Surface Forms

God forfend main

Morphology

God + forfend

The meaning is directly compositional: 'God' (a deity) combined with 'forfend' (to prevent) yields an interjection asking God to prevent something. This devotional request structure is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'Dios nos libre'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the intended meaning despite the phrase's somewhat archaic register.

Etymology

God forfend comes from people praying and asking God to forfend a bad thing. Forfend was an old word meaning 'to forbid' or 'prevent', so today the phrase means 'may God prevent' or 'I hope this does not happen'.