English Reference
Adjective

forgetful

adj.
B1 Intermediate US /fɝˈɡɛtfəɫ/ UK /fəɡˈɛtfəl/ for·get·ful Mathematics

adj.having a poor memory or often losing things. You use this to describe someone who cannot remember where they put their keys or what they were going to say.

adj.characterised by a tendency to lose things or forget information. Often used to describe a person's cognitive state or a specific memory-related error.


SIMPLE

He is very forgetful and always loses his glasses.

CONTEXTUAL

The forgetful student left his textbook at home and had to borrow one from a classmate.

COMPLEX

While the software is designed to be intuitive, even the most forgetful users should find the recovery process straightforward if they follow the on-screen prompts.


From Middle English forgetful, forȝetful (suggested by derivative forgetfulnesse, forȝetfulnesse (“forgetfulness”)), equivalent to forget + -ful.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Middle English *forgetful
Level B1 · Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated