as in preoccupied
inclined to forget what one has learned or to do what one should
we become more forgetful as we get older
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Recent Examples of forgetful
Marty is self-absorbed, forgetful, doesn’t much like people and spends hours online looking for advice about how to be a handyman.
—
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 28 Mar. 2026
In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates worries that books, unlike oral traditions, will make people more forgetful.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 3 Mar. 2026
Lucky for the forgetful reader who checked out the book, the library got rid of overdue fines in 2021, so they won’t be charged a dime.
—Saul Pink, San Antonio Express-News, 8 Feb. 2026
In those early scenes of Home Alone, O’Hara is not just an avatar for a forgetful, imperfect mother.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for forgetful
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 28 Mar. 2026
In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates worries that books, unlike oral traditions, will make people more forgetful.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 3 Mar. 2026
Lucky for the forgetful reader who checked out the book, the library got rid of overdue fines in 2021, so they won’t be charged a dime.
—Saul Pink, San Antonio Express-News, 8 Feb. 2026
In those early scenes of Home Alone, O’Hara is not just an avatar for a forgetful, imperfect mother.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for forgetful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forgetful
Adjective
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Painter Rim Dong Sik’s creations, meanwhile, are deeply preoccupied with nature and its ever-evolving permutations.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
10 June 2026
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Better testing could bring relief to people like Alexa, who has since become preoccupied with testing herself and her potential partners for herpes and had a second false positive scare in February.—
Lauren Schneider,
Scientific American,
9 June 2026
Adjective
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This can leave them confused when community members respond to their friendliness with hostility.—
Emilia Otte,
Hartford Courant,
13 June 2026
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People who use psilocybin recreationally may become confused and jump off a building, David Yaden, a researcher at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, told me.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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Howard McNear provided an indelible bit of local flavor as the genial, if absent-minded, town barber, Floyd.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 June 2026
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There’s something winningly absent-minded about Gosling’s performance here.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Clement’s sad-sack charm successfully boosts the leap of faith required to keep Steve from becoming an oblivious creep, but the show belongs to Walker.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
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Golden retrievers remained cheerfully oblivious as usual.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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At the risk of sounding less like a columnist and more like a bewildered bystander … what the heck happened?—
Denise Crosby,
Chicago Tribune,
14 June 2026
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Urged by a call from Hugo to destroy her phone and flee Kansas City fast, before WARDEX can get to her, Margaret also hits the road, accompanied initially by a bewildered Jackson.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forgetful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forgetful. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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