transitive verbtransitive verb forgets, transitive verb forgetting, transitive verb forgot/fərˈɡät/ /fərˈɡɑt/ , forgotten/fərˈɡätn/ /fərˈɡɑtn/

• 1Fail to remember.

  ‘he had forgotten his lines’

  More example sentences

  • ‘she had completely forgotten how tired and hungry she was’
  • ‘I found myself mixing up my lines, or forgetting them completely.’
  • ‘As we listen to his wonderful gab, we should remember what he sometimes forgot or failed to say.’
  • ‘I recently picked the thing up again and surprised myself by remembering most of the chords, but completely forgetting their names.’
  • ‘I've now remembered that I've forgotten something else, but I can live without it.’
  • ‘Mary has 18 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren and she says she has an awful lot of birthdays to remember but she never forgets any of them.’
  • ‘No one who lived through that period can have forgotten it or failed to carry its images in their mind.’
  • ‘Often blood was drawn but without malice, just an accident, like an actor forgetting his lines because he's trying too hard to remember.’
  • ‘Most of the time this meant that she forgot my name and remembered to give her manicurist a lovely tip.’
  • ‘He blocks shots with abandon - completely forgetting the scary incident a few years back when a puck hit him in the chest, musing him to collapse.’
  • ‘The story is an allegory of the Cultural Revolution, and deals with remembering and forgetting the traumatic events of the Maoist era.’
  • ‘I'm sure, in retrospect, that it was a case of remembering the hits and forgetting the misses.’
  • ‘A person either remembers these voices or forgets them.’
  • ‘Soon he forgets the article and remembers only Dominique; he gathers sketches so he can go into the office where she is, but thinks better of it.’
  • ‘Not being pressed to come up with arguments or evidence to support them, one forgets the arguments and fails to obtain the evidence.’
  • ‘Ask me again in two weeks - I'll either have forgotten it completely, or it will behaunting me.’
  • ‘By the time you go back in the afternoon some of these people have completely forgotten the cameras are there.’
  • ‘I was in one of my dancing moods and completely forgot his distaste for mustard.’
  • ‘It smelled delicious and made us forget the preceding conversation completely.’
  • ‘I am crossing fingers that I won't completely forget everything when it goes live!’
  • ‘Neither are unreliable to the point of forgetting an appointment completely.’

  Synonyms

  fail to remember, fail to recall, fail to think of, let slip

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1Inadvertently neglect to do, bring, or mention something.
     ‘I forgot my raincoat’
     More example sentences

     • ‘she forgot to lock her door’
     • ‘I'm sorry, I just forgot’
     Synonyms

     neglect, fail, omit, not remember

     leave behind, omit to take, overlook, lose track of, mislay, misplace, lose

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  2. 1.2Put out of one's mind; cease to think of or consider.
     ‘forget all this romantic stuff’
     More example sentences

     • ‘for years she had struggled to forget about him’
     • ‘Some might hide and forget about it, there are some who might even run from it and try to make a new life, forgetting the past like it never existed.’
     • ‘That crisis of civilizational morale, in turn, helps explain why European man is deliberately forgetting his history.’
     • ‘Either buy the girl her superstructure out of the goodness of your heart or forget about it.’
     • ‘We should forget about the Government, forget about the doctor and think about the patient.’
     • ‘If the Democrats preselect this dud, they can forget about trying to regain credibility.’
     • ‘They're not kidding themselves about their age, but ice hockey lets them forget about it for a couple of hours each week.’
     • ‘If you get to 30 and you're single, forget about it, you're one of life's singles.’
     • ‘When push comes to shove, you just forget about it - it's just not worth the heartache.’
     • ‘A couple of great events are coming up in the next two months to help us forget about all the snow earlier this week.’
     • ‘He advised people with dogs to forget about exercise in the excessive heat and to make sure there was plenty of shade and cool water.’
     • ‘The players and management can go home and forget about it, we have to live with the trauma of possible relegation every day.’
     • ‘Now I can forget about it until early April, when the actual paper itself is due.’
     • ‘Then you might as well forget about walking to the traffic lights and just jaywalk in the middle of the street.’
     • ‘And on the other hand I don't want him to call me, because it would be so much easier to forget about him that way.’
     • ‘Add the rice and two cups of water, cover the pot, and turn the heat down low enough for you to forget about it for a while.’
     • ‘The view out the front through the large windscreen is good, but forget about seeing the bonnet.’
     • ‘Anyone in his position would have wanted to completely forget about his escape from the long arm of the law.’
     • ‘Now in its eighth year, World Book Day encourages children to forget about technology and to get back to basics.’
     • ‘That's where dishes you can pop in the oven and forget about come in.’
     • ‘I know there are the people who will say just forget about it, it's not worth it.’
     Synonyms

     stop thinking about, think no more of, cease to think of, cease to remember, put out of one's mind, shut out, blank out, pay no heed to, not worry about, ignore, overlook, never mind, take no notice of, banish from one's thoughts, put away, get over, set aside, lay aside, pass over, abandon, have done with, drop, disregard, brush off, shrug off

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  3. 1.3forget oneselfStop thinking about one's own problems or feelings.
     ‘he must forget himself in his work’
     More example sentences

     • ‘It says, ‘Life satisfaction occurs most often when people are engaged in absorbing activities that cause them to forget themselves, lose track of time, and stop worrying.’’
     • ‘It seemed as if the time of the day had stopped, and she was glad as she forgot herself as she danced, listening to the music intently.’
     • ‘I think you ought to stop it, or he'll soon forget himself and start expecting the respect a proper name commands.’
     • ‘Eyes that burned into a soul she had bargained away for one brief moment to forget herself in him.’
     • ‘He is in a state of disinterested absorption, so far as to forget himself and his earthly needs.’
     • ‘Let her try to forget herself and to think only of God, but gently and simply without any violent effort.’
     • ‘So she prayed and forgot herself, remembering her Lord, her beloved Siam, her King and her dead family.’
     • ‘After 10 long years of workmanlike painting, he decided to forget himself and embrace nature wholeheartedly.’
     • ‘She needed relaxation and fun, an opportunity to forget herself, or find herself, feel like Olivia again.’
     • ‘She always explained that she forgot herself entirely and simply did what had to be done.’
     • ‘As she puts it, when she's with a customer, she has to forget herself and assume a role.’
     • ‘His prose is simply beautiful, and frequently forgets itself and takes wing into the poetic, much to our delight.’
     • ‘Knowledge issues from a ripe mind at the point of its ripeness where it forgets itself and receives an inspiration.’
     • ‘The self, like the bumblebee sucking honey from a lotus forgets itself in the ecstasy of being one with the Divine.’
     • ‘When the film forgot itself and slipped in some witty dialogue or situational comedy, the audience roared in relief.’
     • ‘His days were full of suffering, but he forgot himself, and only prayed that he might make peace before he died.’
     • ‘You realise as well how enervating the babble in your own head actually is and how peaceful it's possible to feel when you forget yourself by becoming totally engaged, through the senses, with your surroundings.’
     • ‘She makes clear that this cocky, pure, maddening, unwise girl forgot herself in a cause greater than herself.’
     • ‘Be determined to fight the battle against pride by considering each day as an opportunity to forget yourself and serve others.’
     • ‘If you want to remember God, then first learn to forget yourself a little.’
     • ‘But the man who forgets himself and his desires in order to serve the Lord, will find life, that is, a reward in the kingdom.’
     • ‘Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death.’
     • ‘It's such a visual spectacle that, perhaps for a moment, you do forget yourself.’
  4. 1.4forget oneselfAct improperly or unbecomingly.
     ‘“I'm sorry, Cassie. I forget myself”’
     More example sentences

     • ‘With everything going on, she said, I almost forgot myself.’
     • ‘On Thursday night, the president forgot himself.’
     • ‘But today, in an unguarded moment, he forgets himself.’
     • ‘But as the century progressed, this right allowed individuals to protect their personal dignity even when they had temporarily forgotten themselves in moments of indiscretion.’
     • ‘I think that these people had forgotten themselves.’
     • ‘Brent elbowed me, fortunately, for I had completely forgotten myself.’
     • ‘Greg had forgotten himself, had stepped outside his boundaries, and now he was paying for that.’
     • ‘And as though she had forgotten herself, she quickly amended, ‘I mean… you know how it is… with big brothers.’’
     • ‘For this reason we didn't let any of the other neighborhood kids come along, kids who often forgot themselves, called out, fought over the best pickings, and sometimes stood up visible if they couldn't pay attention or were too anxious.’
     • ‘When I realized just how close we were getting, or, I guess, when I completely forgot myself and almost kissed you, I freaked out.’
     • ‘‘I'm sorry, Your Highness, I forgot myself,’ Brian quickly amended.’
     • ‘I forgot myself and promptly slammed the door in their faces.’
     • ‘She straightened and glanced at him from the corner of her eye in controlled disdain like she'd seen Rachel do when a suitor forgot himself with her.’
     • ‘Affronted and forgetting myself I replied coldly, ‘What about you?’’
     • ‘I gave a whoop of joy, and, forgetting myself, hugged my brother.’
     • ‘Brian, forgetting himself, retorted, ‘Can you see yourself on the monitor?’’
     • ‘As she gets into her job in intelligence, she's forgetting herself and her temper is starting to show through.’
     • ‘Moments later, she forgot herself for a second and said she had to go and use the potty.’
     Synonyms

     act improperly, misbehave, do wrong, go wrong, behave badly, be misbehaved, misconduct oneself, be bad, be naughty, get up to mischief, get up to no good, act up, cause someone trouble, give someone trouble

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