ENGLISH
REFERENCE

forgotten

v. · adj. · n.
US //fɝˈɡɑtən// UK //fəɡˈɒtən// for·got·ten
  1. 1 past participle of forget (v.)
    A2 Elementary

    the form of 'forget' used with 'have' or 'has' to show you did not remember something.

    the past participle of the irregular verb 'forget', used to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses.

    Example

    I have forgotten my password and cannot log into my account.

    Example

    By the time the meeting started, the manager had forgotten the specific concerns raised by the staff during the previous week's briefing.

    Usage

    Always used with an auxiliary verb like 'have', 'has', or 'had' in active voice.

    Pitfall
    I have forgot my keys.
    I have forgotten my keys.

    In standard modern English, 'forgotten' is the correct past participle form used after 'have' or 'has'.

  2. 2 not remembered (adj.)
    B1 Intermediate

    describes something that people no longer remember or think about.

    describing an object, person, or fact that has slipped from public or private memory.

    Example

    The explorers found a forgotten city deep in the jungle.

    Example

    The historian spent years researching forgotten documents in the national archives to reconstruct the lives of ordinary citizens during the war.

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  1. 3 people who are ignored (n.)
    C1 Advanced Literary Formal

    people or things that society has stopped caring about or remembering.

    a collective noun referring to people or entities that have been marginalized or excluded from historical or social memory.

    Example

    The charity works to provide food and shelter for the forgotten of the city.

    Example

    The monument was erected to honour the forgotten—those soldiers whose names were never recorded in the official casualty lists.

    Usage

    Usually appears as 'the forgotten'.

    • the neglected
    • the overlooked
Origin

Morphologically forgot + -en.

Word family

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