Standard Lemma guide

forgetful

adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /fərˈɡɛtfəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F AO0 R G EH1 T F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: F ER0 G EH1 T F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unable to remember things well; liable to forget.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Dropping some of the input's structure or properties before producing an output.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

Examples

  • a forgetful mapping; a forgetful functor

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

not mindful or attentive- G.B.Shaw

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • while thus unmindful of his steps he stumbled

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unmindful, mindless

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a short memory

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unretentive, short

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

failing to keep in mind

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • forgetful of her responsibilities
  • oblivious old age

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: oblivious

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

58 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: نَسَّاء (nassāʔ) — liable to forget
  • Arabic: نَسِيّ (nasiyy) — liable to forget
  • Bulgarian: забравящ (zabravjašt) — liable to forget
  • Bulgarian: разсеян (razsejan) — liable to forget
  • Catalan: oblidadís — liable to forget
  • Catalan: oblidós — liable to forget
  • Cebuano: bungaw — liable to forget
  • Chinese Mandarin: 健忘 (jiànwàng) — liable to forget
  • Chinese Mandarin: 丟三落四 /丢三落四 (diūsānlàsì) — liable to forget
  • Czech: zapomnětlivý — liable to forget
  • Danish: glemsom — liable to forget
  • Dutch: vergeetachtig — liable to forget
  • Finnish: huonomuistinen — liable to forget
  • French: oublieux — liable to forget
  • Galician: esquecedizo — liable to forget
  • Galician: desmemoriado — liable to forget
  • Galician: deslembrado — liable to forget
  • Georgian: გულმავიწყი (gulmavic̣q̇i) — liable to forget
  • German: vergesslich — liable to forget
  • Ancient Greek: λήθᾱργος (lḗthārgos) — liable to forget
  • Ancient Greek: ἐπιλήσμων (epilḗsmōn) — liable to forget
  • Hindi: भुलक्कड (bhulakkaḍ) — liable to forget
  • Hungarian: feledékeny — liable to forget
  • Indonesian: pelupa — liable to forget
  • Indonesian: pikun — liable to forget
  • Irish: dearmadach — liable to forget
  • Italian: smemorato — liable to forget
  • Japanese: 忘れっぽい (wasureppoi) — liable to forget
  • Kazakh: ұмытқан (ūmytqan) — liable to forget
  • Latin: oblīviōsus — liable to forget
  • Latin: immemor — liable to forget
  • Latvian: aizmāršīgs — liable to forget
  • Latvian: aizmirsīgs — liable to forget
  • Māori: wareware — liable to forget
  • Māori: māhungawai — liable to forget
  • Norman: oublieux — liable to forget
  • Norwegian: glemsom — liable to forget
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gløymsk — liable to forget
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gløymsam — liable to forget
  • Occitan: oblidós — liable to forget
  • Pannonian Rusyn: забудлїви (zabudljivi) — liable to forget
  • Polish: zapominalski — liable to forget
  • Portuguese: esquecido — liable to forget
  • Portuguese: esquecidiço — liable to forget
  • Portuguese: esquecediço — liable to forget
  • Romanian: uituc — liable to forget
  • Romansh: emblidus — liable to forget
  • Russian: забы́вчивый (zabývčivyj) — liable to forget
  • Spanish: olvidadizo — liable to forget
  • Spanish: desmemoriado — liable to forget
  • Spanish: olvidadero (disused) — liable to forget
  • Swedish: glömsk — liable to forget
  • Turkish: unutkan — liable to forget
  • Ottoman Turkish: اونوتغان (unutgan) — liable to forget
  • Ukrainian: забу́дькуватий (zabúdʹkuvatyj) — liable to forget
  • Urdu: بُھلَکَّڑ (bhulakkaṛ) — liable to forget
  • Uzbek: unutqan — liable to forget
  • Welsh: anghofus — liable to forget