What is the difference between withhold & forfeit?

[yslamac]

For instance, can both be used at here: "Please note that your incentive may be withheld / forfeited if you do not perform the above update before the deadline"? Many thanks!

 

[Rover_KE]

In that passive sentence there's no difference. In the active usage you would forfeit the incentive; somebody else would withhold it.

 

[GoesStation]

I do see a difference in the passive sentence. Forfeited is permanent; withheld​ is temporary.

 

[Roman55]

My first impulse, when reading the question, was to talk about a nuance of meaning between forfeit and withhold, but the logic of the context doesn't really allow for it.

If the 'incentive may be withheld if you do not perform the above update before the deadline' then I wouldn't expect it to be given at a later date.

 

[GoesStation]

My first impulse, when reading the question, was to talk about a nuance of meaning between forfeit and withhold, but the logic of the context doesn't really allow for it.

If the 'incentive may be withheld if you do not perform the above update before the deadline' then I wouldn't expect it to be given at a later date.

On reflection, I agree. In the US, wages are paid with approximate taxes withheld. Every American who has ever held a job is familiar with that term, and large numbers of tax filers are later at least partially reimbursed when they claim a refund. Hence, the word withhold tends to have an association with later reimbursement in this American's mind.

 

[Raymott]

In that passive sentence there's no difference. In the active usage you would forfeit the incentive; somebody else would withhold it.

I think this is the closest meaning. But there's still a difference in the passive: the incentive is withheld by the boss, and forfeited by the employee. The words are opposites. If you withhold, you keep something back; if you forfeit, you give something away.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Then would 'be forfeited' suggest that the listener already has the incentive, which may be taken away if ...?

 

[Raymott]

Then would 'be forfeited' suggest that the listener already has the incentive, which may be taken away if ...?

You have a right to the incentive. You give away the right to receive it under certain conditions.