forsake
/fɔːˈseɪk/
"forsake" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“forsake” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,404 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #32,404
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something).
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | forsake |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /fɔːˈseɪk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #32,404 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “forsake” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for forsake is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fɔːˈseɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,404 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for forsake, with forms such as "fforsake", "foraske", and "forrsake". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "forsaken", "forage", "forgave", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English forsaken (“to abandon, desert, repudiate, withdraw allegiance from; to deny, reject, shun; to betray; to divorce (a spouse); to disown; to be false to (one's nature, vows, etc.); to give up, renounce, surrender; to discard; to omit; to d… The correct English form is forsake, spelled F-O-R-S-A-K-E.
Definition
- 1To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something).
- 2To decline or refuse (something offered).
- 3To avoid or shun (someone or something).
- 4To cause disappointment to; to be insufficient for (someone or something).
Etymology
From Middle English forsaken (“to abandon, desert, repudiate, withdraw allegiance from; to deny, reject, shun; to betray; to divorce (a spouse); to disown; to be false to (one's nature, vows, etc.); to give up, renounce, surrender; to discard; to omit; to decline, refuse, reject; to avoid, escape; to cease, desist; to evade, neglect; to contradict, refute; to depart, leave; to become detached, separate”) [and other forms], from Old English forsacan (“to oppose; to give up, renounce; to decline, refuse”), from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘away, off’) + *sakaną (“to charge; to dispute”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”)). The English word can be analysed as for- + sake, and is cognate with Saterland Frisian ferseeke (“to deny, refuse”), West Frisian fersaakje, Dutch verzaken (“to renounce, forsake”), Middle High German versachen (“to deny”), Danish forsage (“to give up”), Swedish försaka (“to be without, give up”), Norwegian forsake (“to give up, renounce”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to quarrel; to rebuke”), .
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fforsake,foraske,forrsake,forsaek,forsakke,forskae,forssake,fosrake,frosake,ofrsake
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of forsake - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "forsake"?
What does "forsake" mean?
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Using “forsake”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-R-S-A-K-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /fɔːˈseɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “forsaken” - see the side-by-side comparison. forsake vs forsaken
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.