forswear
Americanverb (used with object)
-
forswears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forswore,
past
-
forsworn,
past participle
-
forswearing
present participle
-
to reject or renounce under oath.
to forswear an injurious habit.
- Synonyms:
- abandon, forsake, forgo, relinquish, abjure
-
to deny vehemently or under oath.
-
to perjure (oneself ).
verb (used without object)
-
forswears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forswore,
past
-
forsworn,
past participle
-
forswearing
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to reject or renounce with determination or as upon oath
-
(tr) to deny or disavow absolutely or upon oath
he forswore any knowledge of the crime
-
to perjure (oneself)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forswearsimple
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forswearssimple
-
have forswornperfect
-
has forswornperfect
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am forswearingprogressive
-
are forswearingprogressive
-
is forswearingprogressive
-
have been forswearingperfect progressive
-
has been forswearingperfect progressive
Past
-
forsworesimple
-
had forswornperfect
-
was forswearingprogressive
-
were forswearingprogressive
-
had been forswearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forswear
First recorded before 900; Middle English forsweren, Old English forswerian; see origin at for-, swear
Explanation
To forswear is to give up an idea, belief, or habit that you’ve had previously. New Year’s is a popular time to forswear anything from sweets to bad relationships. When you forswear, you abandon something completely. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is at first smitten by the maiden Rosaline, but once he lays eyes on Juliet, Rosaline is history. He says of Juliet, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”
Vocabulary lists containing forswear
Romeo and Juliet
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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Othello
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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:
U.S. diplomats asked both to forswear making nuclear fuel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
He said this would be the "challenge for this year" as he urged leaders to "forswear wedge issues" that render their opponents their enemies.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2023
Breaking character is necessary to help Birds Aren’t Real leap to the next level and forswear actual conspiracy theorists, he said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
Council forswear knee-jerk politics in favor of a thoughtful discussion about who — and what — best serves the interests of D.C. residents.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 3, 2020
“I thought you did not want the crown! Only yesterday, before we wed, you said you would forswear Denmark’s throne.”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
The majority forswears any interest in going after other rights similarly grounded in the right to privacy.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 24, 2022
Wotan builds Valhalla to compensate for a loveless marriage; Alberich forswears love to forge the Ring.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 10, 2016
That is the voice of today's latest edge, which forswears normality and happiness for the inevitable doom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2015
And any restaurant chain that forswears TV ads is in serious trouble.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2011
Have I, in silent wonder, seen such things As pride in slaves, and avarice in kings; And at a peer, or peeress, shall I fret, Who starves a sister, or forswears a debt?
From An Essay on Man by Henry Morley
These Asian nations forswore nukes because they trusted in American power.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2023
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2021
The two Koreas first forswore nuclear weapons in a solemn agreement in 1992, shortly after America removed tactical nuclear weapons from its bases in South Korea.
From Economist ● Jun. 7, 2018
The smell is so bad that it contaminates across space and time, sullying even its closest relative, Parenthood, another show about yuppies that forswore anything but uplifting resolution and ultimately turned all tribulations into celebrations.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2016
Embittered, Burdock Muldoon forswore any further attempts to integrate non-wizard members of the magical community into the Wizards’ Council.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
They have forsworn normalcy, these holy fools in decaying mansions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
None of this is to say that Rodrigo has forsworn the type of emotional melodrama that made her a star.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
But as Justice Sonia Sotomayor reminded Clement, “The city has forsworn any future prosecution for past violations.”
From Slate ● Dec. 2, 2019
Have they forsworn the advancing of hypotheses by means of self-serving anecdotes?
From Scientific American ● Jun. 16, 2019
"If you do not return, the whole realm will know you forsworn."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
It’s as if by forswearing the evanescent experience of real-life performing, Glenn Gould gave himself eternal fame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
For Foley, who months earlier had pleaded with Attorney General William Barr to pursue justice by forswearing the death penalty, the fact the case was proceeding at all felt miraculous.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2020
So I can understand how someone who doesn’t would find it really difficult to bear—but I also know that forswearing garlic entirely would mean a real reduction in joy and pleasure for someone who does.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2020
All his life he was given to intense periods of noodling, forswearing meals, sleeping at his desk, testing and retesting his ideas, and shepherding his favored brainchildren to manufacture, marketability and profit.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2019
Humbling thy pride to beg at every door, forswearing thine own good in every way that others may be fed, and yet thy face speaks of an inward joy.
From The Little Colonel's Chum: Mary Ware by Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze) Barry
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.
