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
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(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
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to perjure (oneself)
Other Word Forms
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.
Lips will cling, Forswear, and be forsaken, and men forget Where once our tombs were, and our children sing— So very lightly!—'Love runs into debt.'
From The Line of Love Dizain des Mariages by Cabell, James Branch
Forswear not thyself, sweet youth; for I am not welcome.
From Two Gentlemen of Verona The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] by Clark, William George
Never saw I Wretches so quake: they kneel, they kiss the earth; Forswear themselves as often as they speak: Bohemia stops his ears, and threatens them With divers deaths in death.
From The Winter's Tale by Shakespeare, William
Forswear the palm's repose That spreadeth over all, And gables where the snows Of other pinions fall.
From Enamels and Cameos and other Poems by Lee, Agnes
"Forswear me, then," quoth Liliokani, "forswear me, and come not hither again, and the anger of the all-god shall be appeased."
From The Holy Cross and Other Tales by Field, Eugene
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.
