forsake
verb /fəˈseɪk/
/fərˈseɪk/
(literary)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they forsake | /fəˈseɪk/ /fərˈseɪk/ |
| he / she / it forsakes | /fəˈseɪks/ /fərˈseɪks/ |
| past simple forsook | /fəˈsʊk/ /fərˈsʊk/ |
| past participle forsaken | /fəˈseɪkən/ /fərˈseɪkən/ |
| -ing form forsaking | /fəˈseɪkɪŋ/ /fərˈseɪkɪŋ/ |
- forsake somebody/something (for somebody/something) to leave somebody/something, especially when you have a responsibility to stay synonym abandon
- He had made it clear to his wife that he would never forsake her.
- forsake something (for somebody/something) to stop doing something, or leave something, especially something that you enjoy synonym renounce
- She forsook the glamour of the city and went to live in the wilds of Scotland.
see also godforsaken
Word OriginOld English forsacan ‘renounce, refuse’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch verzaken, and ultimately to for- and sake1.