forsake
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert.
She has forsaken her country for an island in the South Pacific.
-
to give up or renounce (a habit, way of life, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- forgo, relinquish, forswear
verb
-
to abandon
-
to give up (something valued or enjoyed)
Synonym Usage
See desert 2.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
forsakesimple
-
forsakessimple
-
have forsakenperfect
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has forsakenperfect
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am forsakingprogressive
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are forsakingprogressive
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is forsakingprogressive
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have been forsakingperfect progressive
-
has been forsakingperfect progressive
Past
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forsooksimple
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had forsakenperfect
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was forsakingprogressive
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were forsakingprogressive
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had been forsakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forsake
First recorded before 900; Middle English forsaken “to deny, reject,” Old English forsacan, equivalent to for- prefix meaning “away, off” + sacan “to dispute”; see for-
Explanation
To forsake another person is to leave them entirely, usually in a moment of need. Forsake may mean simply giving something up, such as a way of life or a homeland, for something better or more appropriate. But it is often a mean word, suggesting leaving something or someone behind when they need you to stay. One way to remember the meaning of this verb — to abandon or desert — is to remember this little sentence: "For heaven's sake, don't leave me, or heaven is lost!" Lose the heaven, and you have forsake.
Vocabulary lists containing forsake
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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.
Forsake, a footwear company based in Boston, has most of its supply chain and production facility in Zhongshan in southeastern China.
From New York Times • Jan. 31, 2020
One of the first songs played: a popular Arab melody called Do Not Forsake Me, Lover.
From Time Magazine Archive
Resound, ye hills, resound my mournful strains;85 I'll fly from shepherds, flocks, and flow'ry plains, From shepherds, flocks, and plains, I may remove, Forsake mankind, and all the world—but love!
From The Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 New Edition by Pope, Alexander
What can be done?—Reflection, why wilt thou Forsake us, when distress is at our heels?
From The Prince of Parthia A Tragedy by Moses, Montrose Jonas
Be Thou Thy orphaned Israel's friend, Forsake Thy people never, In one our broken many blend, That none again may sever!
From The Poets' Lincoln Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President by Oldroyd, Osborn H. (Osborn Hamiline)
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.
