forgo

verb

for·​go fȯr-ˈgō 

variants or less commonly forego

forwent fȯr-ˈwent  ; forgone fȯr-ˈgȯn 

also -ˈgän

; forgoing fȯr-ˈgō-iŋ 

-ˈgȯ(-)iŋ

; forgoes

fȯr-ˈgōz

transitive verb

1

: to give up the enjoyment or advantage of : do without

… never forwent an opportunity of honest profit …

—Robert Louis Stevenson

decided to forgo dessert for a few days …

2

archaic : forsake

forgoer

fȯr-ˈgō-ər 

noun

Synonyms of forgo

• avoid

Examples of forgo in a Sentence

She is planning to forgo her right to a trial and simply plead guilty.

I'll forgo dessert tonight—I'm trying to lose weight.

Recent Examples on the Web

Notre Dame decided to forgo an opportunity to play in a bowl game after being left out of the College Football Playoff. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Dec. 2025

Abu Dhabi, the Saudis, Qatar and Kushner are forgoing governance in the company if a deal goes through. —Erik Hayden, HollywoodReporter, 8 Dec. 2025

Affinity and the other outside financing partners have agreed to forgo any governance rights, which Paramount said means the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States would have no jurisdiction over the transaction. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Dec. 2025

Some of the main sticking points stem from Putin’s maximalist demands that Ukraine shrink the size of its army, surrender some of its territory and forgo a future bid to join NATO. —Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 3 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English forgān to pass by, forgo, from for- + gān to go

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for forgo

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau

Kids Definition

forgo

verb

for·​go

variants also forego

fȯr-ˈgō, 

fōr-

forwent

-ˈwent

; forgone -ˈgȯn 

also -ˈgän

; forgoing -ˈgō-iŋ 

: to let pass

forgo an opportunity

: go without

forgo lunch