FORGETFULNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does forgetfulness mean? 

• FORGETFULNESS (noun)
  The noun FORGETFULNESS has 2 senses:

1. tendency to forget

2. unawareness caused by neglectful or heedless failure to remember

  Familiarity information: FORGETFULNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORGETFULNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tendency to forget

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("forgetfulness" is a kind of...):

amnesia; blackout; memory loss (partial or total loss of memory)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "forgetfulness"):

senior moment (a momentary lapse of memory (especially in older people))

Derivation:

forgetful ((of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Unawareness caused by neglectful or heedless failure to remember

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

his forgetfulness increased as he grew older

Hypernyms ("forgetfulness" is a kind of...):

unawareness; unknowingness (unconsciousness resulting from lack of knowledge or attention)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "forgetfulness"):

oblivion; obliviousness (total forgetfulness)

Derivation:

forgetful (failing to keep in mind)

forgetful (not mindful or attentive)

 Context examples 

I had particularly asked to be called at eight, so I was very much astonished at this forgetfulness.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Fixed there by the keenest of all anguish, self-reproach, she could find no interval of ease or forgetfulness.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

More miserable than man ever was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

This is great news, for Mercury has been retrograde since February 16—and you likely felt the slowdowns, delays, postponements, and forgetfulness from the start of February.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Some forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging.

(Mild Cognitive Impairment, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

If you're worried about your forgetfulness, see your doctor.

(Memory, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

I don't like this lapsing into forgetfulness; it may make or continue some injury to the brain.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my elbow.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was not in Miss Crawford's power to talk Fanny into any real forgetfulness of what had passed.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Indulgence in remembrance, and indulgence in forgetfulness.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)