forfeit

Meaning

Noun

1. A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
2. A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.
3. Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
4. (obsolete) Injury; wrong; mischief.

Verb

1. To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance
2. To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules
3. To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
4. To fail to keep an obligation.
5. Of government officials: to legally remove property from its previous owners.

Adj

Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.

Synonyms

forfeiture

fine

lose

confiscate

penalty

loss

amercement

forfeited

forego

waive

give up

mulct

sequestrate

forgo

pledge

sacrifice

seize

sequester

throw overboard

damages

decamp

delivery

desert

🏜️

disappear

discharge

done for

evict

expire

expropriation

extradition

fade

fade away

fall

cession

foreclose

foreclosure

ceding

casualty

call out

fail in

forsake

gage

garnishee

bereave

giving

go

go around

gone

grant

handing over

handover

hock

impound

indemnify

lack

leave

livery

beat it

attach

lost

make good

make off

manque

assignment

pawn

alienation

perish

pay the damages

price

push off

remunerate

pecuniary punishment

scarper

Scot

legal transfer

seizure

seize smuggled goods

abandon

sequestration

sink

slink

smart money

surety

surrender

perempt

ticket

🎫

vanish

abasement

would-be

abandonment

be lost

foreswear

squander one’s money

bereavement

waste

be taken away

compensate

confiscation

conveyance

conveyancing

cost

damage

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfɔː.fɪt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: forfait

In summary

From Middle English forfait from ca. 1300, from Old French forfait (“crime”), originally the past participle of forfaire (“to transgress”), and Medieval Latin foris factum. During the 15th century, the sense shifted from the crime to the penalty for the crime.