forgo

forgo, forbear, abnegate, eschew, sacrifice are comparable when they denote to deny oneself something for the sake of an end.

One forgoes for the sake of policy, expediency, or the welfare of others something already enjoyed or indulged in, or within reach

{

he agreed . . . to forgo all remuneration until his apprenticeship was completed— Brooks

}

Often the word implies surrender or abandonment

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in electing this peculiar freedom of its own, vers lib re . . . has forgone the great harmonic, orchestral effects of the older verse— Lowes

}

One forbears, through motives of prudence, kindness, or charity, doing or saying something one wishes or is tempted to do or say. Forbear usually implies self-restraint

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although ... I do not get much help from general propositions in a case of this sort, I cannot forbear quoting what seems to me applicable here— Justice Holmes

}

One abnegates what is intrin-sically good but not consistent with one's aims, principles, or limitations

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to treat English poetry as though it had died with Tennyson ... is to abnegate high hope for the sake of a barren convenience— Quiller-Couch

}

Often abnegate implies renunciation or self-effacement, but this distinction is not as commonly maintained in the verb as in the derivative noun abnegation

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communities dedi-cated to the living of a humble and self-abnegating life— Mumford

}

One eschews (see also ESCAPE 2) something tempting, sometimes on moral or aesthetic grounds but more often because abstention or self-restraint is necessary for the achievement of a more significant desire or end

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to work within these strict limits, eschewing all the helps to illusion that modeling and shadow give, was doubtless an exercise of incomparable service to the artist— Binyon

}

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some of the millionaires eschewed palatial magnificence— F. L. Allen

}

One sacrifices something highly desirable or in itself of great value for the sake of a person, ideal, or end dearer to one than the thing or person involved; the term typically connotes renunciation and self-denial and a religious or ethical motive comparable to that of self-immolation

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sacrificed a college education for the sake of supporting his mother

}

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sacrificed his life in defense of his country

}

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I do not mean that the well-to-do should . . . forgo educational opportunities which ... are not open to all. To do that would be to sacrifice civilization to justice— Russell

}

{

sacrificed their fortune in the world for theology's sake -H. O. Taylor

}

Analogous words: waive, Relinquish, surrender, abandon: renounce, resign, *abdicate