forget

American  

[fer-get] / fərˈgɛt /

verb (used with object)

• forgets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• forgot,
  past
• forgat,
  past (Archaic)
• forgotten,
  past participle
• forgetting
  present participle

1. to cease or fail to remember; be unable to recall.

   to forget someone's name.

2. to omit or neglect unintentionally.

   I forgot to shut the window before leaving.

3. to leave behind unintentionally; neglect to take.

   to forget one's keys.

4. to omit mentioning; leave unnoticed.

5. to fail to think of; take no note of.

6. to neglect willfully; disregard or slight.

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verb (used without object)

• forgets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• forgot,
  past
• forgat,
  past (Archaic)
• forgotten,
  past participle
• forgetting
  present participle

1. to cease or omit to think of something.

idioms

1. forget oneself, to say or do something improper or unbefitting one's rank, position, or character.

forget British  

/ fəˈɡɛt /

verb

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. (tr) to leave behind by mistake

4. (tr) to disregard intentionally

5. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to fail to mention

6. 1. to act in an improper manner

   2. to be unselfish

   3. to be deep in thought

7. an exclamation of annoyed or forgiving dismissal of a matter or topic

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forget More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing forget

• forgive and forget

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Usage

Both forgot and forgotten are used as the past participle of forget : Many have already forgot (or forgotten ) the hard times of the Depression. Only forgotten is used attributively: half-forgotten memories.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• forgetter
  noun
• forgettable
  adjective
• unforgetting
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• forgetting
  present
• forgotten
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• forget
  simple
• forgets
  simple
• have forgotten
  perfect
• has forgotten
  perfect
• am forgetting
  progressive
• are forgetting
  progressive
• is forgetting
  progressive
• have been forgetting
  perfect progressive
• has been forgetting
  perfect progressive

Past

• forgat
  simple
• forgot
  simple
• had forgotten
  perfect
• was forgetting
  progressive
• were forgetting
  progressive
• had been forgetting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will forget
  simple
• will have forgotten
  perfect
• will be forgetting
  progressive
• will have been forgetting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of forget

First recorded before 900; for- + get; replacing Middle English foryeten, Old English forg(i)etan; cognate with Old Saxon fargetan, Old High German firgezzan

Explanation

When you forget something, you can't recall or remember it. An actor who forgets his lines might need some helpful cues from the other actors on stage. You might forget on online password, or forget to return your library books. You can also deliberately forget something: "I've decided to forget about becoming rich and famous and focus on what I like to do." When you accidentally leave something behind, like your umbrella, you also forget it. The Old English root of forget is forgietan, "fail to remember or neglect inadvertently."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

forget forgets forgat forgot forgotten forgetting

When you win, you get your payout minus the cut for the house and for taxes, which many people forget about.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Oh, and don’t forget consumers, who get access to higher-quality goods at better prices, everything from fresh food to medical devices to cars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

I forget if the story came up as 5 percent A.I.-assisted, 9 percent, or whatever.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

It turned an already joyful afternoon into a moment Promise and his friends would not soon forget.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Despite the hot, angry tears that blur my vision, the truth I’ve been avoiding for so long cuts deep, leaving a scar so I’ll never forget.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

"He has no phone or wallet with him and probably forgets the name of the hotel," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

That is, until Tom forgets his jacket inside the bookstore.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

We need to restore that belief, before the generation we indulged forgets it forever.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

"The system forgets you; that is the beauty of it," says Anadol.

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

"He's been in the bathroom for hours and it's time he came out. He sits in there reading books and he forgets completely where he is! Do you have any children, my dear?"

From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

There I lay down and went to sleep before long, but deemed I heard no little talk going on betwixt Anna and the guest ere I forgat it all.

From The Sundering Flood by May Morris

I well-nigh forgat the sleeves—green velvet, slashed of mallard-colour satin; and guarded o’ silver lace—three pound, eight shillings, and four pence.”

From Joyce Morrell's Harvest The Annals of Selwick Hall by Emily Sarah Holt

Your pardon, Dame; I forgat for the nonce that I spake to his daughter.

From The Well in the Desert An Old Legend of the House of Arundel by M. (Madelaine) Irwin

Yet he forgat not, father as he was Of these, his absent eldest, whom he mourn’d 30 Ceaseless, and thus his speech, weeping, began.

From The Odyssey of Homer by William Cowper

She well-nigh forgat that God might have some better thing in store for her, to the which He was leading her all the time, along this weary road.

From Clare Avery A Story of the Spanish Armada by Emily Sarah Holt

He described her as a "global iconic superstar" who not only never forgot her roots, but was fiercely proud of them.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Rather, it plays like the 84th episode of a time-killing cable series that people forgot was still on the air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Jack Ma forgot that, briefly, in October 2020, when at a financial regulators’ summit he said the Chinese banking system operated like a pawnshop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

It’s an underrated, retro way to discover songs you’ve never heard, songs by artists you love, and songs by artists you forgot you love.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

Fred always forgot that he didn’t like bananas, so he snitched a bit from her bowl and spat it out across the rock.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

Then, as markets boom in the next bubble, the lesson is forgotten.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Now Centennial has one of the best running backs in the state in Malaki Davis, plus Mater Dei transfer Kennie Leggett, so Drake starts his senior year pretty much forgotten and on the bench.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

For many of those who know Belfast, one of the most striking aspects of the Fleadh was the transformation of previously forgotten spaces.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Willem Dafoe plays a forgotten poet in ‘Late Fame,’ ‘Ted Lasso’ takes the field for the first time in three years, the studio behind ‘Untitled Goose Game’ releases a new co-op offering, and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Mama was always cooking up nourishing broths and porridges for forgotten old men and pale young mothers—on days, that is, when she herself was strong enough to stand at the stove.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Congress shouldn’t honor the first Roosevelt lesson by forgetting the second.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

But queer clubs were never only about forgetting.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

For her contribution to entertainment, and charity, Keith was rewarded with TV Baftas, an Olivier, an OBE, a CBE and ultimately a damehood in 2014 - not forgetting the rose named in her honour.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

Setting and forgetting your student-loan payments could soon give you a big discount.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026

Yes, forgetting the monster between them would be best, the right thing.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Related Words

• fail
• ignore
• neglect
• overlook
• skip