Meaning & use
forfeit
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To lose something, such as a right, deposit, or possession, because you broke a rule or failed to do something required.
Grammar: Takes an object, and the loss is a penalty: you forfeit your deposit.
Patterns
- forfeit something
- forfeit your right to something
Anyone who cancels after Friday will forfeit their deposit.
By leaving the country, he forfeited his claim to the land.
The company forfeited its license after repeated safety violations.
verbtransitive or intransitivesport
To lose a match or game without playing it or finishing it, because of a rule breach or a team that cannot compete.
Grammar: Can take the game as an object or stand alone: the team forfeited the match, or they forfeited.
Patterns
- forfeit a game
- forfeit the match
The visiting team forfeited the game when only six players showed up.
If she misses the weigh-in, she will forfeit the bout.
They forfeited rather than play in the dangerous storm.
nouncountable
Something lost as a penalty, or a small task or payment someone must do after losing a game.
Grammar: Often found in the pattern the forfeit of something, or as the price you pay.
Patterns
- pay a forfeit
- the forfeit of something
The forfeit for losing the bet was washing everyone's car.
Missing the final payment meant forfeit of the whole property.
In the party game, the loser had to pay a forfeit.
adjectiveafter a verbformal
Lost or taken away as a penalty.
Grammar: Used after a verb such as be: the deposit is forfeit.
Patterns
- be forfeit
- become forfeit
If the rent is late, the deposit is forfeit.
His freedom was forfeit the moment he broke parole.
The estate became forfeit to the crown.
Word forms
| third person singular | forfeits |
|---|---|
| past tense | forfeited |
| past participle | forfeited |
| -ing form | forfeiting |
Common combinations
- forfeit a deposit
- Guests who do not show up forfeit a deposit.
- forfeit the game
- The team forfeited the game after a dispute over eligibility.
- forfeit your right
- By signing, you forfeit your right to sue.
- forfeit your life
- Rebels who were caught often forfeited their lives.
- forfeit by default
- He lost by default when his opponent did not appear.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lose
- Lose is the everyday word for any loss, while forfeit stresses that the loss is a penalty for breaking a rule or missing a requirement.
- surrender
- Surrender suggests giving something up willingly under pressure, while forfeit means it is taken or lost automatically.
- sacrifice
- Sacrifice implies giving something up on purpose for a greater goal, unlike forfeit, which is imposed by a rule.
- relinquish
- Relinquish means to let go of something voluntarily, whereas forfeit often has no choice involved.
Opposites
Word family
- forfeiture noun
- the loss of something as a penalty
- forfeited adjective
- lost as a penalty
- forfeitable adjective
- able to be lost as a penalty
Commonly confused: forfeit or fore?
forfeit vs fore
Fore means front or earlier in words like forecast. The -feit in forfeit comes from an old word for wrongdoing, so the meaning is different.
Practice
If you miss the final payment, you will ____ your deposit.
Choose one answer.
Forfeit means to lose something as a penalty. Forgo means to choose to do without, so it does not fit a penalty.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “forfeit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.