What does forgo mean?
To forgo something is to choose, deliberately and willingly, to give it up or do without it. The verb applies both to concrete pleasures — one might forgo dessert, a holiday, or a night out — and to intangible advantages, such as forgoing an opportunity, a claim, or a right. Because it implies that the thing forgone was genuinely available and desirable, forgo always carries a note of conscious sacrifice or restraint; nobody forgoes what they never wanted. It is a moderately formal word, common in journalism, personal finance, health writing, and everyday conversation about discipline and trade-offs. Its closest synonyms include relinquish, renounce, and waive, though none captures quite the same sense of voluntary abstinence. Forgo should not be confused with its lookalike forego, which means to go before rather than to do without — a distinction that has tripped up writers for centuries and makes this modest verb surprisingly worth knowing precisely.
verbTo forgo is to voluntarily give up, refrain from, or do without something that one wants or could have.
- To voluntarily do without or give up something, especially something desirable or habitual.
- To refrain from doing or having something, often as a matter of choice or discipline.
"She decided to forgo dessert in favour of a long walk after dinner."
"The climbers chose to forgo the summit push when the weather turned."
"He was willing to forgo a salary increase in exchange for extra vacation days."
Add a single letter 'e' and forgo becomes forego — turning 'give it up' into 'go before it', one of English's most treacherous spelling traps.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of forgo
Forgo comes from the Old English verb forgān, formed by attaching the prefix for-, which carried senses of going away, neglecting, or doing without, to the verb gān, meaning 'to go'. It developed steadily through Middle English and remains in regular use today. Its sibling formations with the same Old English prefix include forsake ('to renounce'), forswear ('to swear away'), and forego ('to go before'), which explains why these verbs feel like a family and why forgo is so easily confused with forego.
How forgo is actually used
Forgo carries a tone of deliberate self-denial and is slightly formal in register, though widely used in everyday writing about habits, spending, and lifestyle choices.
Easily confused with forgo
Forego means to precede or go before (as in the phrase 'forescore and seven' or foregone conclusions), while forgo means to give something up; the extra 'e' changes the meaning entirely.