  A number of strong infrared forbidden lines have been observed in several
evolved Wolf-Rayet star winds, and these are important for deriving metal
abundances and testing stellar evolution models. In addition, because these
optically thin lines form at large radius in the wind, their resolved profiles
carry an imprint of the asymptotic structure of the wind flow. This work
presents model forbidden line profile shapes formed in axisymmetric winds. It
is well-known that an optically thin emission line formed in a spherical wind
expanding at constant velocity yields a flat-topped emission profile shape.
Simulated forbidden lines are produced for a model stellar wind with an
axisymmetric density distribution that treats the latitudinal ionization
self-consistently and examines the influence of the ion stage on the profile
shape. The resulting line profiles are symmetric about line centre. Within a
given atomic species, profile shapes can vary between centrally peaked, doubly
peaked, and approximately flat-topped in appearance depending on the ion stage
(relative to the dominant ion) and viewing inclination. Although application to
Wolf-Rayet star winds is emphasized, the concepts are also relevant to other
classes of hot stars such as luminous blue variables and Be/B[e] stars.
