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
Now 82 years old, Chase comes off as a surly, forgetful man.
—
Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 13 Jan. 2026
In addition to Gould, the movie also starred the voices of Albert Brooks as Nemo's father Marlin, Willem Dafoe as Gill and Ellen DeGeneres as the forgetful blue tang fish Dory.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
So, Marlin teams up with a forgetful new friend (Ellen DeGeneres) to bring his son home.
—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
And not to worry—for us moms of ahem, forgetful teens, there is a three-hour auto shut-off on the blanket.
—Chaunie Brusie, Parents, 18 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forgetful
Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 13 Jan. 2026
In addition to Gould, the movie also starred the voices of Albert Brooks as Nemo's father Marlin, Willem Dafoe as Gill and Ellen DeGeneres as the forgetful blue tang fish Dory.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
So, Marlin teams up with a forgetful new friend (Ellen DeGeneres) to bring his son home.
—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
And not to worry—for us moms of ahem, forgetful teens, there is a three-hour auto shut-off on the blanket.
—Chaunie Brusie, Parents, 18 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forgetful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forgetful
Adjective
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The agency was likely preoccupied with things like the war in Kosovo and hunting a Saudi dissident named Osama Bin Laden toward the end of the Nineties.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2026
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In fact, the whole notion of seeing things in the subway, writing about the subway, is a kind of mindfulness that only somebody walking around a lot, at ease, not preoccupied, would observe.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Immediately disoriented, confused and dizzy.—
Scott Pelley,
CBS News,
8 Mar. 2026
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Current ride-share insurance minimums already leave many victims undercompensated and confused.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The little boy went to school but was absent-minded, always hunched over books and filling the pages with endless drawings.—
Elena Banfi,
Vanity Fair,
19 Jan. 2026
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Travelers are becoming more absent-minded, and experts are struggling to understand why.—
Wilson Santiago Burgos,
USA Today,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The film centres on the owner of a failing furniture chain whose insurance scam unravels catastrophically on the eve of his daughter’s wedding, leaving him scrambling to keep his family oblivious, avoid prison and salvage the celebration.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
4 Mar. 2026
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The new city government, controlled largely by business owners and other élites, seemed oblivious to the problems of the poor.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Olivier tried successfully to get the reader to understand how a gentle, pacific young man could come to kill more than a thousand people, and so capturing the tone and empathetic portrayal not only of Simo Häyhä and his colleagues but also of the often-bewildered Russian soldiers was essential.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
30 Jan. 2026
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The usually positive Gauff went negative, lacked energy and seemed bewildered and overwhelmed.—
Merlisa Lawrence Corbett,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forgetful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forgetful. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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