forsake
Americanverb (used with object)
-
forsakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forsook,
past
-
forsaken,
past participle
-
forsaking
present participle
-
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
-
has forsakenperfect
-
am forsakingprogressive
-
are forsakingprogressive
-
is forsakingprogressive
-
have been forsakingperfect progressive
-
has been forsakingperfect progressive
Past
-
forsooksimple
-
had forsakenperfect
-
was forsakingprogressive
-
were forsakingprogressive
-
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.
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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:
If Ms. Josephson wants her students to forsake communities, she needs to convince them that their lives as successful individuals will be better than their lives as successful members of the collective.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Even after its massive expenditures, Microsoft recently said its cloud-computing capacity was so constrained that it had to forsake external cloud sales to run its own operations.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
“You don’t have to forsake your life to make great stuff.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2024
Adult men should survive without requiring women to forsake our own goals and desires in order to serve them.
From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2024
“You are sure you want to forsake the warm, moist breath of clay for the cold, unforgiving eternity of stone.”
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
So, unlike many athletes, the Rams’ veteran quarterback forsakes headphones upon arrival, and embraces a hostile environment when he jogs onto the field for pregame warmups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2024
In pursuit of his mad crush, the hypermasculine Hudson, Randy now forsakes his beloved campy theater friends, cutting his hair and taking up sports as the buff, tough Dell.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 10, 2022
One of these is Charles G. Koch’s 2015 book, “Good Profit,” an example of what happens when a billionaire adopts Alger’s preachy moralizing but forsakes the narrative of mobility that made him compelling.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2022
Director X’s “Superfly” transplants the 1972 Blaxploitation classic from Harlem streets to suburban Atlanta mansions, flips Curtis Mayfield’s soul score for Future’s hip-hop soundtrack and forsakes the original’s politically charged grit for shallow music-video indulgence.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 12, 2018
There was a dignity to her grief and an acceptance of the fait accompli—the fatalism that the pilot’s wife must beget whenever her mate forsakes her for his aircraft.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Instead, Latinos forsook movement politics in this election and seem poised to do the same in the future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2024
As a young college graduate, Mr. Whitworth forsook a promising career as a jazz trumpeter to do a different kind of improvisation as a journalist.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2024
Later, he forsook arts cinema to become a highly bankable commercial actor, as at home in comedy as in drama.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2021
“American spray paint companies basically forsook graffiti in the ’90s,” she said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2020
And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.’
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Mr. Greenberger’s title poses the question: Why has Morris been forsaken?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Even though the tournament ended only three days ago, the soccer paraphernalia feels like a forsaken Christmas tree wilting in February.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
Now that they’ve forsaken the last obstacle to selling out entirely, they will likely lose many more.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2025
He goes on to say they were "looking forward to a day scampering" and made the decision to leave their packs because they spent two days "lugging them up this God forsaken valley".
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025
It sounds farfetched, but like a roast forsaken in the oven or a rescheduled dental appointment, childbirth is one of those minor details that tends to slip the minds of most soap opera characters.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
"I think Cam is a one-major guy if you go to LIV because you are forsaking your competitiveness for money," Clayton told me in 2023.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom forsaking his office to run the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025
Even more than an internal feeling, truly great art produces new conversations, and this one about how to create without forsaking yourself in the process is only just beginning.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2025
Now, 108 years later, the latest incarnation of that league – the PAC 12 – may be fading into sports history as Washington joins several other universities in forsaking the venerable West Coast athletic collective.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
“We are not forsaking you, mama,” Andrew said.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
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