Meaning & use
forsooth
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Meaning
adverbnot comparablearchaichumorous
An old word meaning truly or indeed, now used mostly for playful effect or in historical writing.
Grammar: Added for emphasis or mock-old style: Forsooth, it is true.
Patterns
- forsooth, sentence
Forsooth, I have never seen such a mess in my kitchen.
The actor bowed and cried, Forsooth, my lady!
He texted forsooth just to sound like a Shakespeare character.
Common combinations
- forsooth, my lord
- Forsooth, my lord, the feast is ready.
- and forsooth
- And forsooth, the cat ate the cake.
- speak forsooth
- The troupe speaks forsooth in the festival skit.
- say forsooth
- Don't say forsooth unless you are joking.
Synonyms and how they differ
- indeed
- Indeed is a normal modern word of emphasis, while forsooth sounds deliberately antique.
- truly
- Truly is ordinary and sincere, whereas forsooth is theatrical or teasing.
- verily
- Verily is an equally old word, a bit more solemn and often biblical.
- in truth
- In truth is a simple formal phrase, lacking the joking old-world flavor of forsooth.
Word family
- sooth noun
- old word for truth
- soothsayer noun
- a person who foretells the future
- soothly adverb
- in truth (archaic)
- forsworn adjective
- having broken a promise; different root from forsooth
Commonly confused: forsooth or soothe?
forsooth vs soothe
Soothe means to calm someone, which is unrelated in meaning to forsooth even though part of the spelling looks alike.
Practice
Why would a speaker say forsooth today?
Choose one answer.
Forsooth is archaic and now used for humor or historical flavor. The other options are not its function.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “forsooth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.