Forsake and keep are opposites. To forsake is to renounce someone or something you once held dear — to push it away and turn from it (forsake a friend, forsake a faith). To keep is to go on holding it close, never setting it down (keep a friend, keep the faith). One casts the cherished thing away; the other holds on to it.
These two pull opposite ways on something cherished. Forsake, from Old English forsacan ('to renounce'), turns from what was dear — pushing it away, choosing against it. Keep, from Old English cēpan ('to hold, observe'), is the opposite: you hold the thing close and stay with it, and 'keep the faith' means exactly to not forsake it. Where forsake shoves the cherished thing aside, keep folds it in. Forsake renounces; keep holds dear.
forsake
To forsake someone or something is to give up what you once held dear — the grave, literary word for renouncing a person, a faith, or a vow. It comes from Old English forsacan, 'to renounce or decline', and it keeps that solemn weight: one forsakes all others, forsakes a friend in need, feels forsaken by the world. Where abandon can be plain and desert is a betrayal of duty, forsake is emotional — the bond was cherished, and the loss falls hardest on the one forsaken.
keep
To keep something is to go on having it — the plainest, widest word for not letting go. It comes from Old English cēpan, 'to seize, hold, observe', and it has kept that open reach: you keep a promise, a secret, a seat, a pet, your temper. Unlike retain, which holds on deliberately against the chance of loss, keep can be effortless and ordinary. Its true opposite is to abandon — to set a thing down and walk away from it for good.
| forsake | keep | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | to renounce something once held dear | to hold something close; to stay with it |
| The cherished thing | pushed away, cast aside | held close, kept |
| Feeling | a bond renounced | a bond honoured |
| Often with | forsake all others, a friend, a faith, your roots | keep the faith, a friend, a promise, a vow |
| Direction | cast away | hold close |
| Example | He forsook the faith of his youth. | She kept the faith all her life. |
They are opposites — cast the cherished thing away or hold it close. Forsake is the man shoving away the creed he lived by, turning to its opposite (forsake all others, forsake a faith). Keep is the hands folded around the light, never setting it down — holding the dear thing close (keep the faith, keep a friend). If you renounce something you once cherished, you forsake it; if you hold on to it, you keep it.
forsake
- iHe forsook everything he had once believed.
- iiShe felt forsaken by the people closest to her.
- iiiThey begged him not to forsake them.
keep
- iShe kept the faith through every hardship.
- iiHe kept his closest friends for life.
- iiiKeep the values you were raised with.
They are opposites for a cherished bond: forsake renounces and turns away, keep holds and stays true. The phrase 'keep the faith' is the exact opposite of 'forsake the faith' — one stays loyal to a belief, the other gives it up.