forgo
Americanverb (used with object)
-
forgoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forwent,
past
-
forgone,
past participle
-
forgoing
present participle
verb
-
to give up or do without
-
archaic to leave
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
forgosimple
-
forgoessimple
-
have forgoneperfect
-
has forgoneperfect
-
am forgoingprogressive
-
are forgoingprogressive
-
is forgoingprogressive
-
have been forgoingperfect progressive
-
has been forgoingperfect progressive
Past
-
forwentsimple
-
had forgoneperfect
-
was forgoingprogressive
-
were forgoingprogressive
-
had been forgoingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forgo
First recorded before 950; Middle English forgon, Old English forgān ; see origin at for-, go 1
Explanation
The verb forgo means to give up or lose the right to something. The word forgo can be traced back to the Old English word forgān, which meant to pass away or to die, which is sometimes referred to as "giving up the ghost." Perhaps it was this idea of relinquishing something that led to our modern-day use of the word forgo to mean to give up, waive, or forfeit something. For example, someone charged with a crime might decide to forgo the right to remain silent and instead confess.
Vocabulary lists containing forgo
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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.
See Examples For:
Báez had dreamed of days like Saturday ever since the Cardinals drafted him in the second round and paid him $2.25 million to forgo his commitment to Vanderbilt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“When you’re private, you can just say, ‘I want to do it this way,’ and maybe forgo a little bit of profit in order to achieve other things that are considered important,” Caro said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
How do you encourage enough people to voluntarily forgo their benefits?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Other cost-cutting measures were also announced, such as deferring wage increases until 2035 and having senior executives forgo base salary increases in 2027 and 2028.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Yes. Very good. So, Kvothe, do you still wish to forgo an anesthetic?”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Typically wearing a traditional Caribbean shirt, Cepeda forgoes a tie, which he considers a symbol of oligarchy.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
Samantha Steele, a former assessor for an Indiana county and current member of the Board of Review, says she forgoes campaign contributions from people with business before the board.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
"Jedha, Kyber, Erso," the last ever episode of “Andor,” forgoes conventional finality to bridge the series with the movie that inspired it, 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”
From Salon ● May 17, 2025
She forgoes chemotherapy, emails her resignation letter and hits the road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
She forgoes all of the usual motel thrills, like unwrapping the soaps and hunting for the Bible.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Cleveland forwent college, hitting the road soon after his high school graduation in 1999, and emerged as an exciting sideman, passionate about bluegrass’s history and quick-witted, too — “a good hang,” as Gill put it.
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
Petrobras said the war significantly affected its export markets, as Asian buyers received Russian crude that European and North American buyers forwent.
From Reuters ● Jul. 28, 2022
Chau avoided romantic entanglement, believing it irresponsible given the risks of his mission to North Sentinel, and forwent full-time employment in order to focus on preparing.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 3, 2019
Family Vacation’s first season revolved around the impending fatherhood of Ronnie—whose ex-girlfriend Sammi “Sweetheart” forwent the reboot all together: She was in a “better place.”
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2018
I forwent Supper and walked by the shore of the Charles until I could see Boston.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
But a dividend that is forgone for now isn’t necessarily gone forever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
The forgone wages and benefits of these retirees add up to an estimated $201 billion annually and the loss of payroll contributions represents a $356 million hit to federal tax revenue, Implan estimates.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
The prosecution added that it was not a forgone conclusion the defendants would be deported following these convictions.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
Any forgone tax revenues now would affect our own government, which builds our roads and pays for our defense, education, etc.
From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2025
Couldn’t he have forgone a weekend in Vegas?
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
She knew the risks of forgoing pasteurization, but the site eased her concerns: It said the farm tested its milk and had never found a single pathogen.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
By forgoing the front cab, Humble Robotics could face additional regulatory hurdles, said Dan Sperling, founding director emeritus of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
Where “World War II With Tom Hanks” goes very right is by forgoing a linear approach to history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Hedging still makes sense, as does defining risk without forgoing potential rewards.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
He saw marriage as the loving alignment of two people who could lead parallel lives but without forgoing any independent dreams or ambitions.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
