Unforgettability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being so memorable or striking that it cannot be forgotten, remaining vividly in one's mind
2. The property of making such a lasting impression that something stays with a person permanently and cannot be erased from memory
3. The characteristic of being so unforgettable that it resists being forgotten and remains persistently in one's recollection

Etymology: "Unforgettability" is a plain English formation: the prefix "un-" added to "forgettability," the noun from "forgettable," which in turn is "forget" with the suffix "-able," meaning capable of being forgotten, followed by "-ity," the suffix that turns an adjective into a state or quality. Each layer is an ordinary English building block, so the word is less a single coinage than a stack of familiar parts. The result reverses the sense of its base. "Forgettable" describes something easily slipped from memory, while "unforgettability" names the quality of being impossible to erase from it. The word therefore points to an experience or person that lodges in the mind, the opposite of what the parts might first suggest when read in isolation.