Forgetful

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /fərˈɡɛtfəl/

Definitions

1. Prone to not remembering things or failing to keep information in mind
2. Characterized by a recurrent failure to retain or recall memories, thereby leading to the omission of relevant information or events
3. Having a tendency to overlook or fail to recall information or past experiences

Etymology: "Forgetful" is a plain compound: "forget" with the suffix "-ful," which turns a noun or verb into an adjective meaning "full of" or "prone to" the thing named. Here the "forget" part is what makes it interesting, because the verb has a more tangled past than the suffix does. Old English "forgietan" meant to lose hold of something, and its prefix "for-" carried a sense of "away" or "wrongly," so the core idea was closer to "to let go" than to losing a memory. The adjective itself is more recent than the verb it grows from. Its earliest recorded form appears in Middle English, where the word was built the same way, by attaching "-ful" to the existing "forget." Scholars have not turned up a clear, dated first citation in the sources consulted, so the most reliable picture is simply that "forgetful" arose in Middle English as a natural extension of "forget," with its derivative noun "forgetfulness" following close behind.

Synonyms: absent-minded, distracted

Antonyms: mindful, attentive