reneged

Reneged is the past tense of the verb renege. To renege means to go back on a promise, agreement, or commitment, or to fail to honor obligations. It can apply to formal contracts or informal assurances. In everyday usage, someone who reneges on a deal has broken a commitment and may face loss of trust or reputational damage. The term is often used to describe behavior that is seen as unreliable or dishonorable, though contexts vary and not all instances involve illegal conduct.

In contract law, reneging can be described as a breach or non-performance, depending on the jurisdiction and the terms of the agreement. Legal remedies, when available, typically focus on damages, specific performance, or cancellation of the contract. Because renaging concerns promises and expectations rather than formal labels alone, it is often contrasted with terms like breach, default, or repudiation, which have more precise legal definitions.

In card games, reneging has a distinct technical meaning. In trick-taking games such as bridge or euchre, to renege is to fail to follow the suit led when a player is able to do so. This is considered an irregularity and can carry penalties under the rules of the game, separate from any moral judgment about the player’s overall conduct.

Reneged, as an adjective, describes someone who has broken a promise or failed to uphold an obligation. Examples include reneged on a contract, reneged on a pledge, or reneged on a deal. The word conveys a negative assessment of reliability and is widely discouraged in professional and personal contexts.