law One is free to do anything that is not explicitly illegal. A: "Everything which is not forbidden is allowed—it's the cornerstone of a free society." B: "Yeah, but with all these trifling laws, it certainly seems like not much is allowed anymore." I know you believe that "everything which is not forbidden is allowed," but that attitude going to get you into serious trouble one day, sonny. Why am I in trouble? There was no rule explicitly prohibiting skateboarding in this park, and everything which is not forbidden is allowed, is it not?

Something that one desires but cannot or should not have. A reference to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve and the fruit that God forbade them to eat in the Garden of Eden. Since forbidden fruit is the sweetest, I couldn't stop myself from taking a piece of the cake my mom had specifically made for work. I know you're intrigued by Derek, but he's married! Leave that forbidden fruit alone! You just love breaking the rules, don't you? You love that forbidden fruit.

proverb People are drawn to things that they are forbidden from doing or having. A: "I know you're intrigued by Derek, but he's married!" B: "But forbidden fruit is the sweetest!" Since forbidden fruit is the sweetest, I couldn't stop myself from taking a piece of the cake my mom had specifically made for work. You just love breaking the rules, don't you? You think forbidden fruit is the sweetest.

Fig. someone or something that one finds attractive or desirable partly because having the person or thing is immoral or illegal. (Biblical; from the apple in the Garden of Eden that was forbidden to Adam by God.) Jim flirts with his sister-in-law only because she's forbidden fruit. The boy watches that program only when his parents are out. It's forbidden fruit.

Unlawful pleasure or enjoyment; illicit love. For example, After Mary moved in with John, Tom began courting her-forbidden fruit is sweet, I guess , or Smoking behind the woodshed, that's a case of forbidden fruit. This expression alludes to Adam and Eve's violation of God's commandment not to touch fruit from the tree of knowledge, which resulted in their expulsion from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6). In the form forbidden fruit is sweet it appeared in numerous early English proverb collections.

If you call something forbidden fruit, you mean that you want it very much but are not allowed to have it. Knowing that from now on you can't drink alcohol or have sugar in your tea can make you want those forbidden fruits even more. `What kept Charlie and I going for 27 years,' she explains, `was the thrill of the illicit, the sense of forbidden fruit.' Note: This expression refers to the story in the Bible in which Eve tempts Adam to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which God had forbidden them to touch.

An unlawful pleasure, usually one that is stolen; especially, illicit love. The expression alludes to the story of Eve in the Book of Genesis (2:17–3:6), in which she caused herself and Adam to be expelled from the Garden of Eden because she ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge. “Forbidden fruit is sweet” subsequently became a proverb, quoted in numerous early English sources, and was applied to any illicit pleasure.