Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense forgets, present participle forgetting, past tense forgot, past participle forgotten
1. verb
If you forget something or forget how to do something, you cannot think of it or think how to do it, although you knew it or knew how to do it in the past.
Sometimes I improvise and change the words because I forget them. [VERB noun]
She forgot where she left the car and it took us two days to find it. [VERB wh]
Synonyms: fail to remember, not remember, not recollect, let slip from the memory More Synonyms of forget
2. verb
If you forget something or forget to do it, you fail to think about it or fail to remember to do it, for example because you are thinking about other things.
She never forgets her daddy's birthday. [VERB noun]
She forgot to lock her door one day and two men got in. [VERB to-infinitive]
Don't forget that all dogs need a supply of fresh water to drink. [VERB that]
She forgot about everything but the sun and the wind and the salt spray. [VERB + about]
Synonyms: neglect, overlook, omit, not remember More Synonyms of forget
3. verb
If you forget something that you had intended to bring with you, you do not bring it because you did not think about it at the right time.
Once when we were going to Paris, I forgot my passport. [VERB noun]
[Also V + about]
4. verb
If you forget something or someone, you deliberately put them out of your mind and do not think about them any more.
I hope you will forget the bad experience you had today. [VERB noun]
I can't forget what happened. [VERB noun]
I found it very easy to forget about Sumner. [VERB + about]
She tried to forget that sometimes she heard them quarrelling. [VERB that]
Synonyms: dismiss from your mind, ignore, overlook, stop thinking about More Synonyms of forget
5. verb
If you forgetyourself, you behave in an uncontrolled or unacceptable way, which is not the way in which you usually behave.
He was so fascinated by her beauty that he forgot himself and leaned across to touchher. [VERB pronoun-reflexive]
1. (when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive)
to fail to recall (someone or something once known); be unable to remember
2. (tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)
to neglect, usually as the result of an unintentional error
3. (transitive)
to leave behind by mistake
4. (transitive)
to disregard intentionally
5. (when tr, may take a clause as object)
to fail to mention
6. forget oneself
7. forget it!
Derived forms
forgettable (forˈgettable)
adjective
forgetter (forˈgetter)
noun
Word origin
Old English forgietan; related to Old Frisian forgeta, Old Saxon fargetan, Old High German firgezzan
forget in American English
(fərˈgɛt; fɔrˈgɛt)
verb transitiveWord forms: forˈgot, forˈgotten or forˈgot, forˈgetting
1.
to lose (facts, knowledge, etc.) from the mind; fail to recall; be unable to remember
2.
to fail to do, bring, etc. as because of carelessness; overlook, omit, or neglect unintentionally
don't forget to write
3.
to overlook, omit, or neglect intentionally
let's forget our differences
verb intransitive
4.
to forget things; be forgetful
SIMILAR WORDS: neˈglect
Idioms:
forget it!
forget oneself
Derived forms
forgettable (forˈgettable)
adjective
forgetter (forˈgetter)
noun
Word origin
ME forgeten < OE forgietan (see for- & get): orig. sense, to fail to hold
Examples of 'forget' in a sentence
forget
Now we need to forget about the disappointment of this game.
The Sun (2016)
Do we just cast them aside and forget about them and think they're lost causes?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Don't forget about where you come from.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Bath forgot about identity and failed while Leicester built an empire on its foundations.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
I told them to forget about the result and remember the performance.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
With top tips for how to ace festive recipes, you can forget about spending hours slaving away at the stove.
The Sun (2016)
We have to focus and work because we cannot think about this game, we have to forget about talking about big things.
The Sun (2017)
Don't forget to bring your camera: this is nature as still life.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I think sometimes people forget how old I am.
The Sun (2016)
Some are so bad they are forgotten.
John Foot Calcio: A History of Italian Football (2006)
It is about whether a nation chooses to remember or to forget.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The surprising answer is to forget about the board.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They had not forgotten to bring the key.
Geraghty, Tony The Bullet Catchers (1989)
People sometimes forget how bad it was.
The Sun (2014)
But we think you will have forgotten all about it by then.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
He said he copied her badge as she often forgot to bring it with her.
The Sun (2011)
Maybe for a few days people at home could forget about the bad things.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
But if the heart specialist says all is well then you can forget about it.
The Sun (2012)
But he finds she has not forgotten his bad behaviour.
The Sun (2007)
Others may forget but we remember.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Forgiveness is both remembering and forgetting.
Davey, Ray Rev. & Cole, John A Channel of Peace (1993)
Luck brings forgotten cash to light.
The Sun (2011)
Are we forgetting how to remember?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
You'd be amazed how often people forget to think about the audience before they speak.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
If you think paisley belongs to the decade that taste forgot, then think again.
The Sun (2012)
Do you think we've forgotten such terrible things?
Kerr, Katharine A Time of War (1993)
The England defender said that he had forgotten about the test and went on a shopping trip.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They forget that wealth brings longer, healthier and more comfortable lives to millions.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Perhaps the problem is that we've forgotten how bad summer can be in this country.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It would be a manifest tragedy if remembering was forgotten, because society was forgotten.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I think you forgot to do up a button on your shirt.
The Sun (2006)
Quotations
An elephant never forgets
In other languages
forget
British English: forget /fəˈɡɛt/ VERB
If you forget something, or if you forget how to do something, you cannot think of it or think of how to do it, although you knew in the past.
He forgot where he left the car.
American English: forget
Arabic: يَنْسَى
Brazilian Portuguese: esquecer
Chinese: 忘记
Croatian: zaboraviti
Czech: zapomenout
Danish: glemme
Dutch: vergeten
European Spanish: olvidar
Finnish: unohtaa
French: oublier
German: vergessen
Greek: ξεχνώ
Italian: dimenticare
Japanese: 忘れる
Korean: 잊다
Norwegian: glemme
Polish: zapomnieć
European Portuguese: esquecer
Romanian: a uita
Russian: забывать
Latin American Spanish: olvidar
Swedish: glömma
Thai: ลืม
Turkish: unutmak
Ukrainian: забувати
Vietnamese: quên
All related terms of 'forget'
forget it!
You say ' Forget it ' in reply to someone as a way of telling them not to worry or bother about something, or as an emphatic way of saying no to a suggestion .
forget oneself
to act in an improper manner
forget-me-not
A forget-me-not is a small plant with tiny blue flowers.
fire-and-forget
used to describe a type of missile that, once fired, is able to guide itself to its target
forget-me-not blue
a shade of blue similar to the shade of the flowers of a forget-me-not
scorpion grass
any temperate low-growing plant of the mainly European boraginaceous genus Myosotis , having clusters of small typically blue flowers
Chinese translation of 'forget'
forget
(fəˈɡɛt)
Word forms:ptforgot
Word forms:ppforgotten
vt
[fact, face, skill, appointment]忘记(記) (wàngjì)
(= leave behind)[object]忘带(帶) (wàng dài)
(= put out of mind)[quarrel, person]忘掉 (wàngdiào)
vi
(= fail to remember) 忘记(記) (wàngjì)
to forget to do sth忘记(記)做某事 (wàngjì zuò mǒushì)
to forget how to do sth忘记(記)如何做某事 (wàngjì rúhé zuò mǒushì)