forsooth
Americanadverb
adverb
Etymology
Origin of forsooth
before 900; Middle English forsothe, Old English forsōth. See for, sooth
Explanation
If you want to say "indeed" in a particularly witty, old-fashioned way, use the adverb forsooth. Sprinkle this word into your speech, and forsooth, your friends may think you sound Shakespearean: “Yes, forsooth mother, I shall walk the dog around the block.” Forsooth is an archaic adverb, mainly used in humorous contexts or on National Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Some etymologists believe it's a shortened form of “for in truth.”
Vocabulary lists containing forsooth
Much Ado About Nothing
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King Lear
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 7
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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.
My friend recognized that a live football broadcast is, forsooth, a work of art—possibly the most widely beloved American art form that is never celebrated as such.
From Slate • Oct. 16, 2015
Distrait, Mark appealed to his friend, but Robert's letters brought no solace�only the melancholy news that his own wife had left him, because forsooth he had been rude to an old hag of a spiritualist.
From Time Magazine Archive
There is no more to say, Because you'll never agree That anything’s truth, But what issues, forsooth, From Holmes or the brain of McGee.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
And now, forsooth, he sends over to ask advice and directions from Warde.
From The Smuggler: (Vol's I-III) A Tale by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
We do not walk forsooth with our legs, because snakes propel themselves without them!
From Popular scientific lectures by Mach, Ernst
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.
