forego
- 01 C1 Advanced
to happen or exist before something else.
to precede in time, place, rank, or importance. Often used in the present participle form 'foregoing' to refer to things previously mentioned.
Simple“The events that forego the main story are explained in the first chapter.”
In context“The legal team spent hours reviewing the evidence presented in the foregoing paragraphs to ensure no contradictions remained.”
UsageCommonly appears as the present participle 'foregoing' or the past participle 'foregone'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
to decide not to have or do something that you would usually have or do.
an alternative spelling of 'forgo', meaning to abstain from or relinquish something desirable.
Simple“She decided to forego her morning coffee to save time.”
In context“The board members agreed to forego their annual bonuses in light of the company's recent financial difficulties.”
Teacher's tipWhile 'forego' is a common variant, many style guides prefer 'forgo' for the sense of 'giving up' to distinguish it from 'preceding'.
PitfallI will forego to eat dessert tonight. I will forego dessert tonight.The verb is transitive and takes a direct object or a gerund, not an infinitive with 'to'.
Synonyms
From Middle English forgan, itself from Old English foregān, an obedient compound: fore- in front, gān to go
See forgo
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.