forswear
Americanverb (used with object)
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to reject or renounce under oath.
to forswear an injurious habit.
- Synonyms:
- abandon, forsake, forgo, relinquish, abjure
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to deny vehemently or under oath.
-
to perjure (oneself ).
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to reject or renounce with determination or as upon oath
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(tr) to deny or disavow absolutely or upon oath
he forswore any knowledge of the crime
-
to perjure (oneself)
Other Word Forms
- forswearer noun
Etymology
Origin of forswear
First recorded before 900; Middle English forsweren, Old English forswerian; for-, swear
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.
Question No. 28 asked whether they swore allegiance to the U.S. and would forswear allegiance to the Japanese emperor.
From Seattle Times
“Director” may be the wrong word, though; the onscreen credit is simply “by” Harmony Korine, who has apparently forsworn any impulse to control his material.
From New York Times
It’s as if by forswearing the evanescent experience of real-life performing, Glenn Gould gave himself eternal fame.
From Los Angeles Times
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
None of this is to say that Rodrigo has forsworn the type of emotional melodrama that made her a star.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
