forfeit

1. 1.

   something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty

   Synonymsforfeiture

   Broaderloss
2. 2.

   a penalty for a fault or mistake that involves losing or giving up something

   “the contract specified forfeits if the work was not completed on time”

   Synonymsforfeiture

   Broaderpenalty
3. 3.

   the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.

   Synonymsforfeituresacrifice

   Broaderact

1. 1.

   lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime

   “you've forfeited your right to name your successor”

   “forfeited property”

   Synonymsgive upthrow overboardwaiveforgoforego

   Antonymsclaim

   Broaderabandon

   Narrowerlapse

1. 1.

   surrendered as a penalty

   Synonymsconfiscateforfeited

   Similarlost

Other forms of forfeit

plural

forfeits·

past tense

forfeited·

present participle

forfeiting·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about forfeit

What does forfeit mean?

forfeit means "something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in forfeit?

forfeit has 2 syllables: for-feit. The stress falls on "for". In IPA it is /ˈfɔɹfɪt/.

What is another word for forfeit?

Close synonyms include forfeiture, forfeiture, forfeiture, sacrifice, give up. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of forfeit?

The recorded antonyms are claim.

Is forfeit a common word?

forfeit is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.