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forsake

/fərˈseɪk//fəˈseɪk/·verb
to give up or turn away from someone or something you once held dear
Fig. 1 — 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.
01Definition

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.

02In use
  • iHe forsook a comfortable career to follow a cause he could not ignore.
  • iiIn her worst year she felt the whole world had forsaken her.
  • iiiThey vowed before everyone never to forsake one another.
03Collocations
  • forsake all others
  • forsake one's faith
  • forsake a friend
  • feel forsaken

Family forsaken (adjective)

04Relations

=abandon, renounce, desert, relinquish, give up

≠keep, cling to, stand by, embrace

05Compared
PairThe difference
forsake vs abandona plain, everyday leaving → abandon; solemnly renounce something dear, a faith or a vow → forsake.
forsake vs deserta sworn duty broken → desert; a cherished bond renounced → forsake.
forsake vs give upsolemnly renounce something dear → forsake; simply stop trying → give up.
forsake vs keeprenounce something you once cherished → forsake; hold on to it → keep.
forsake vs leave behinda cherished bond solemnly renounced → forsake; something that just doesn't come along → leave behind.

Also compared with relinquish

06TOEFL & 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).

07Asked
What is the past tense of forsake?
Forsake is irregular: forsake, forsook (past simple), forsaken (past participle). 'He forsook his friends' is past simple; 'he had forsaken his friends' uses the participle. The common error is using 'forsaken' for the plain past — 'he forsaken' is wrong. It follows the same pattern as take / took / taken and shake / shook / shaken.
What does 'forsaken' mean?
Abandoned and left utterly alone — the past participle used as an adjective. A forsaken village is deserted and desolate; a person who feels forsaken feels deserted by everyone. It carries more grief than plain 'abandoned', because forsake implies the bond was once cherished. The emptiness is the loss made visible.
What does 'godforsaken' mean?
Utterly desolate and wretched, as if abandoned even by God — 'a godforsaken place' means a bleak, miserable spot in the middle of nowhere. It borrows the full weight of forsake and the scriptural cry 'why hast thou forsaken me'. Now mostly an intensifier of dreariness, it keeps a trace of real despair underneath.
Is 'forsake' archaic or formal?
Literary and solemn rather than truly archaic — rare in casual speech but alive in vows, scripture, poetry, and heightened prose. You will meet it in wedding vows ('forsaking all others'), in the Bible, and in dramatic writing, far more than in conversation. Its gravity is the point: it is reserved for renouncing something once held dear.
What does 'forsaking all others' mean?
A phrase from the traditional marriage vow — promising to give up all other romantic attachments and be faithful to one partner alone. Here forsake keeps its solemn sense of renouncing something willingly and for good. The formality is deliberate: a vow reaches for the grave old word precisely because the promise is meant to be grave.
What is the difference between forsake and abandon?
The compressed tell: abandon can be plain and neutral, while forsake is emotional — the bond was cherished, and the loss falls hardest on the one forsaken. The full contrast, with both animated scenes, is on the abandon vs forsake page in the 'Compared' list above.