Forgo

//fɔɹˈɡoʊ// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To do without (something enjoyable); to relinquish. transitive

    "I've had to forgo my student discount in exchange for taking the job."

  2. 2
    lose (something) or lose the right to (something) by some error, offense, or crime wordnet
  3. 3
    To refrain from, to abstain from. literary, transitive

    "I shall forgo actually stepping inside, thank you."

  4. 4
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to wordnet
  5. 5
    be earlier in time; go back further wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abandonabdicateabjureabstainabstain fromacknowledge defeat

Example

More examples

"Do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

Etymology

From Middle English forgon (“to go by, pass up”), from Old English forgān (“to go away, forgo”); equivalent to for- + go.

Related phrases

do withoutleave alonepass up

More for "forgo"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.