Forego Meaning
/fɔɹˈɡoʊ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo precede, to go before.
verbAlternative spelling of forgo; to abandon, to relinquish.
Sentence Examples
Many athletes forego a social life, so they can achieve their performance goals.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To save money for their trip, they decided to ____ daily coffees for a few months.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She decided to ____ her dessert so that she could stay within her daily calorie limit.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English forgan, from Old English foregān, equivalent to fore- + go.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone"
— 1815, William Wordsworth, Methought I saw:
"[…] for on no other terms does she desire a reconciliation, but will sooner forego all the hopes to which her birth entitles her, and get her bread by service, than ever yield to become the wife of the ——."
— February 1762, T. Waller, “The White Witch of the Wood, or the Devil of Broxbon”, in The Beauties of all the Magazines Selected, for the Year 1762, volume I, page 34:
"CNBC's Julia Boorstin reports Disney will forego its dividend payments for half of the year."
— 2020 May 5, Disney foregoing dividend payments for half of the year (News), CNBC Television, archived from the original on 07 Oct 2022:
"A study funded by the FMCSA found that although several heavy-vehicle manufacturers have voluntarily made AEB “standard” on many new truck models, they also offer “deletion credits” to customers who choose to remove AEB, which provides customers financial incentive to forego the technology and which ultimately reduces voluntary adoption rates"
— 2024, NTSB, Highway Investigation Report, HIR-24-05, Rear-End Collision Between Combination Vehicle and Medium-Size Bus:
"Last week, TSA agents missed their first full paychecks. Some employees are still at work, with the promise of back pay when the shutdown ends. But others can't or won't forego paychecks."
— 2026 March 23, Barry Petchesky, “ICE Agents Deployed To Nation’s Swamped Airports To Stand Around And Do Nothing”, in Defector, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2026:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To save money for their trip, they decided to ____ daily coffees for a few months.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She decided to ____ her dessert so that she could stay within her daily calorie limit.