Synonym Chooser

How does the verb forsake contrast with its synonyms?

The words abandon and desert are common synonyms of forsake. While all three words mean "to leave without intending to return," forsake suggests an action more likely to bring impoverishment or bereavement to that which is forsaken than its exposure to physical dangers.

a forsaken lover

When would abandon be a good substitute for forsake?

While the synonyms abandon and forsake are close in meaning, abandon suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection.

abandoned children

When might desert be a better fit than forsake?

The synonyms desert and forsake are sometimes interchangeable, but desert implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence.

a deserted town

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of forsake But is that what drives grown-ups to forsake other activities and pour their efforts into cross-pollinating, feeding and nurturing great pumpkins of sizes Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang could never imagine? Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2024 The team could stay in its longtime home and not forsake its fanbase in the city. Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 18 Sep. 2024 By reducing foreign policy to defense initiatives, the United States is forsaking any meaningful attempt to arrest the underlying causes of future regional insecurity, including extreme inequality, environmental degradation, and kleptocracy. Van Jackson, Foreign Affairs, 22 Oct. 2021 Being nice to those who’ve been forsaken by others is dangerous. Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, refinery29.com, 9 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for forsake 

Thesaurus Entries Near forsake

Cite this Entry

“Forsake.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forsake. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on forsake

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