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forsake

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To abandon, desert, or renounce someone or something, especially in a time of need; to give up entirely, implying betrayal or the breaking of bonds.

Detailed Definition
“Forsake” implies betrayal of duty or love, stronger than “leave.” In religious poetry, it questions divine presence (“why hast thou forsaken me?”). In amorous verse, it marks ultimate rejection. The verb’s finality suits tragic rupture, where loyalty is tested and broken. Poets use it to dramatize isolation, guilt, or existential abandonment in soliloquies of despair.
Example
Example in poetry:
"She forsook her throne for love," in a tragic romance; In Shakespeare’s King Lear: "Thou hast not known what ’tis to love... / Hadst thou not been my child, I would have loved thee"; "He forsook the world to seek God"; Milton’s Adam chooses to forsake paradise with Eve; "Forsake not truth for favor"; The poet forsook fame for solitude.
Additional Notes
“Forsake” implies betrayal in abandonment, especially of vows or kin; in religious or tragic contexts, divine or human “forsaking” triggers crisis, and the term carries stronger emotional weight than neutral “leave.”
Also Known As
abandon desert leave forsweare
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