phrasal verb · neutral
break a promise
UK/breɪk ə ˈprɒmɪs/US/breɪk ə ˈprɑːmɪs/break a PRO·mise
to fail to do something that you promised to do
Examples
“He apologised for breaking his promise to visit.”
“Parents should teach children that breaking a promise has consequences.”
“Politicians are often criticised for breaking promises.”
Band 8 sentence
“Voters were outraged when the minister openly broke his promise on education reform.”
Collocations
- break a promise to someone
- admit you broke a promise
Word family
Common mistakes
forget a promise→break a promise
not keep promise→not keep a promise / break a promise
Say it for a higher band
5forget a promise→6fail to keep a promise→7+break a promise
Synonyms
fail to keep a promise
renege on a promise
Easily confused
fail to keep a promise
“He failed to keep his promise to donate the money.”
renege on a promise
“The company reneged on its promise to fund the project.”
Related words
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In break …
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