lexicow

forsake

/fərˈseɪk//fəˈseɪk/·verb
I watch a man stand beside the creed he lived by — a red badge bearing the hammer and sickle of socialism, hovering at his shoulder. He reaches out, shoves it away, and it slides off and is gone; into the same place slides a green badge marked with the dollar of capitalism, and he takes his stand beside that one as if it had always been his. He did not merely set the old faith down — he pushed it aside and put on its opposite.
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Definition

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.

Examples

  • He forsook a comfortable career to follow a cause he could not ignore.
  • In her worst year she felt the whole world had forsaken her.
  • They vowed before everyone never to forsake one another.

Collocations

forsake all others·forsake one's faith·forsake a friend·feel forsaken

Synonyms

abandon·renounce·desert·relinquish·give up

Antonyms

keep·cling to·stand by·embrace

Word family

forsaken (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

Literary and emotional, common in vows and scripture ('forsaking all others'; 'why hast thou forsaken me'); rare in casual speech but powerful in writing. Irregular forms: forsake / forsook / forsaken, and the past participle doubles as an adjective (a forsaken place). Contrast with desert (a duty betrayed) and abandon (broad and neutral).