forego
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of forego
before 900; Middle English forgon, forgan, Old English foregān. See fore-, go 1
Explanation
If you forego something, you choose to give it up. If you forego dessert after dinner, you are skipping dessert. The verb forego (also spelled forgo) literally means “to go by.” In common usage it means “to abstain” or “do without.” You might forego smoking cigarettes as a New Year’s resolution. Forego can also mean “to precede,” or “go before.” This verb is often seen in its past participle form, foregone, in the phrase “foregone conclusion,” meaning a predetermined conclusion.
Vocabulary lists containing forego
The Constitution of the United States
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Vocabulary from the Constitution of the United States
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Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
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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:
To the state they cited frequent turnover in adjusters and demands to sign legal papers agreeing to forego future reimbursement for personal items without itemized receipts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
The Wall Street Journal reported External link over the weekend that SpaceX would forego a Mars mission in 2026, focusing on the moon instead.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
It’s remarkable how much future benefit people will forego for a little instant gratification.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
Medical exemptions are also easier to police, since states can require licensed doctors to explain why each child has a legitimate need to forego vaccination.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025
But forego, which means “go before,” has an e, as do its cousins foregone and foregoing. forward.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
It’s how budget carriers like Consumer Cellular can pass cost savings on to their customers by foregoing large-scale infrastructure buildouts.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
The bigger issue is that investors who stuck with staples, foregoing bigger gains in hopes they would provide a smoother ride, have been sorely mistaken.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
He agreed with Secretary Vance that to oppose it “would be foregoing an option that we could exercise in the event a peaceful solution is not in the offing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
If his comedy can travel without him, if he can make money while foregoing lonely nights on the road, he can prioritize more important moments, like playing catch with his son after school.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2025
I’m working up with the foregoing to a physical description of myself.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
In his telling, every meeting packs a punchline, conclusions are never foregone and suspense is rarely more than a page or two away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026
If that makes the outcome seem like a foregone conclusion, it ain’t necessarily so, thanks to Labour’s laborious internal democratic process.
From Salon ● May 12, 2026
Andrew Gilruth, chief executive of the Moorland Association, which represents landowners in upland areas in England and Wales, claimed the government's backing for the project suggested the go-ahead was "already a foregone conclusion".
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
“This started as a foregone conclusion. It didn’t look that way as we went forward. So, for our basketball team, the fact we didn’t give up makes it special. We fought.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
But forego, which means “go before,” has an e, as do its cousins foregone and foregoing. forward.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
While Hopkins and many of her generation forewent having children, she notes that women today show up for job interviews pregnant, take family leave and still get tenure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
But last month, after Thiessen’s stepmother and father, who are in their 70s, came down with covid, Thiessen, his wife and their children, ages 7 and 9, forewent testing.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2022
But the Seahawks felt confident enough in Eskridge that they forewent their usual strategy of trading down for more picks.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2021
Because of social distancing, the family forewent the normal rituals of grieving, including the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2020
Dead are Abdulmelik and those who forewent him, and Omar also will die, and those who come after him.'
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume II by John Payne
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.
