Synonyms of forgetting

forgetting 1 of 3

adjective

as in forgetful

Related Words

• forgetful
• unaware
• oblivious
• bewildered
• clueless
• unmindful
• confused
• dazed
• muddled
• bemused
• scatterbrained
• heedless
• unfocused
• inattentive
• unconscious
• foggy
• unthinking
• hazy
• unknowing
• befuddled
• dreaming
• unwitting
• flighty
• absorbed
• daydreaming
• befogged
• unheeding
• intent
• preoccupied
• engrossed
• unwary
• unperceptive
• distracted
• vacant
• dreamy
• birdbrained
• absent
• pensive
• rapt
• absentminded
• insensible
• faraway
• abstracted

Dissimilar Words

• aware
• alert
• conscious
• engaged
• mindful
• alive
• wary
• observing
• attentive
• vigilant
• watchful
• observant
• sharp
• wide-awake
• heedful
• heads-up
• open-eyed
• clearheaded

forgetting

2 of 3

noun

as in ignoring

Related Words

• ignoring
• disregard
• neglect
• overlooking
• wrong
• misdemeanor
• misconduct
• nonobservance
• offense
• misfeasance
• sin
• infringement
• delinquency
• violation
• transgression
• contravention
• infraction
• misprision
• trespass
• invasion
• intrusion
• breach
• encroachment
• dereliction

Dissimilar Words

• observance
• respecting
• noninfringement
• upholding

forgetting

3 of 3

verb

present participle of forget

1

as in missing

to be unable to recall or think of

I forget exactly on which street that the house is

Synonyms & Similar Words

• missing
• losing
• unlearning
• disremembering
• ignoring
• blanking
• neglecting
• disregarding
• misremembering
• passing over
• slighting
• slurring (over)
• overlooking
• overpassing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• remembering
• recalling
• thinking (of)
• recollecting
• reminiscing (about)
• reminding
• harking back (to)
• minding
• flashing back (to)
• harkening back (to)
• hearkening back (to)

2

as in neglecting

to fail to give proper attention to

she promised not to forget her high school friends after she went off to college

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ignoring
• neglecting
• disregarding
• missing
• overlooking
• bypassing
• passing over
• slighting
• slurring (over)
• omitting
• rejecting
• failing
• overpassing
• disdaining
• brushing (aside or off)
• scorning
• sloughing (off)
• skimping
• shrugging off
• sluffing (off)
• pooh-poohing
• scanting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• regarding
• attending (to)
• tending (to)
• appreciating
• valuing
• remembering
• minding
• fostering
• heeding
• cultivating
• cherishing
• nurturing
• nursing
• treasuring
• watching
• listening (to)
• prizing
• following
• noticing
• noting
• marking
• observing
• remarking
• pampering

3

as in shirking

to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness

he forgot the pot boiling on the stove

Synonyms & Similar Words

• neglecting
• shirking
• slacking (off)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• remembering
• doing
• attending (to)
• performing
• carrying out
• executing
• achieving
• accomplishing
• maintaining
• keeping up

4

as in failing

to miss the opportunity or obligation

I forgot to call on his birthday

Synonyms & Similar Words

• failing
• neglecting
• omitting
• ignoring
• disregarding
• missing out on
• sliding
• skipping
• passing over
• pretermitting
• overlooking
• defaulting
• slipping
• slighting
• overpassing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• remembering
• keeping
• doing
• observing
• performing
• practicing
• carrying out
• executing
• heeding
• minding
• meeting
• fulfilling
• satisfying
• discharging
• complying (with)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of forgetting

Noun

Rather than presenting memory as a complete record of the past, Fragments of Remembering explores the space between remembering and forgetting. — Photovogue, Vogue, 2 July 2026

Inside, boards blackened by smoke and sweat, the air sweet with cane and forgetting. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 19 May 2026

His quest to reclaim the power of writing becomes an inner journey between memory and forgetting, between a lost language and a new one, where human, emotion and meaning must be recreated anew. — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026

For example, in learning contexts, adaptive forgetting, or the ability to let go of irrelevant information, can actually improve cognitive performance overall. — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026

This comes at a time of wider forgetting. — David Remnick, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025

In an age of fast fading and faster forgetting, that message - stitched into every uneven hem - remains radical. — Maria Williams, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025

In this arrangement, even if one learner suffers from catastrophic forgetting, the cognitive radio can still function. — Sven Bilén, IEEE Spectrum, 23 July 2020

Verb

Many businesses focus heavily on improving products while forgetting about the value of responsiveness. — Dmitriy Schwarzburg, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026

Never forgetting your past, but also living in the present, and always striving to do more in the future. — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 16 July 2026

Shifting baseline syndrome puts a name on something that most of us have experienced—the ways in which the fog of forgetting veils experience. — Literary Hub, 15 July 2026

Blessed with a photographic memory, the 75-year-old Sullenberger — one of the nation’s most famous aviators since Charles Lindbergh — began periodically forgetting things. — Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 14 July 2026

Imagine tall trees across the lake, a calm breeze, children laughing in the distance, the scent of your old canvas tent – there’s no forgetting the sights, sounds, smells and feel of summer camp. — Seth T. Kannarr, Fortune, 13 July 2026

But Alito’s stance against birthright citizenship goes beyond just forgetting his roots. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026

Some cells even grow senescent, forgetting how to replicate at all. — T.m. Brown, CNN Money, 26 June 2026

Imagine tall trees across the lake, a calm breeze, children laughing in the distance, the scent of your old canvas tent – there’s no forgetting the sights, sounds, smells and feel of summer camp. — Derek H. Alderman, The Conversation, 26 June 2026