withgo means to go against; oppose; transgress. It carries an Arena rating of 1560, earned across 33 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, withgo ranks #477 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,085 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,653 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #3,192 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
Why “withgo” is a great word
WITHGO — [Verb] To go against or oppose in action or direction; also, to forgo or pass away. From Middle English *withgon* ('to be in opposition to, vanish'), from Old English *wiþgān* ('to go against, oppose, pass away'), equivalent to the prefix *with-* ('against') + *go*. Unlike 'forgo' (which implies passive abstention) or 'oppose' (a general term for resistance), *withgo* fuses physical motion with moral transgression. It is the salmon struggling upstream, the pilgrim striding east into a westerly gale, or the quiet act of letting the season's last fruit wither on the branch—a chosen contradiction where to oppose is to depart, and to forgo is a form of vanishing.
Etymology
From Middle English withgon (“to be in opposition to, vanish”), from Old English wiþgān (“to go against, oppose, pass away, vanish, disappear”), equivalent to with- + go.
verb
- To go against; oppose; transgress.
- To forgo; give up; pass up; forfeit.e.g.“"[...] In the name of all that is dear to you, let us help you to withgo the vengeance."” — 1895, Aroda Reym, A life contrast:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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