forbidden fruit

[fer-bid-n froot, fawr-bid-n] / fərˈbɪd n ˈfrut, fɔrˈbɪd n /

NOUN

immoral indulgence

Synonyms

WEAK

desired object forbidden indulgence golden apple illegal indulgence illegal pleasure illicit love immoral pleasure no-no prohibited article prohibition taboo

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

His WASPy Hubbell represents forbidden fruit to Streisand’s 1930s college activist; the movie gets its shout-out on “Sex and the City.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2025

This may be due to a "forbidden fruit" effect, which could make potentially aversive material more tempting to viewers.

From Science Daily • Oct. 12, 2023

In every version of the story, Eve ate the forbidden fruit first.

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2023

Travel and tourism feel a bit like forbidden fruit, tantalizing but snatched away at the last minute.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 10, 2021

But during the seventeenth century, musicians intrigued by the forbidden fruit opened up by chord sequences increasingly sought to be able to move from one mode to another.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall