amnesia

American  

[am-nee-zhuh] / æmˈni ʒə /

noun

1. loss of a large block of interrelated memories; complete or partial loss of memory caused by brain injury, shock, etc.

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amnesia British  

/ æmˈniːzɪˌæk, æmˈniːsɪk, æmˈniːzjə, -ʒjə, -zɪə, -zɪk /

noun

1. a defect in memory, esp one resulting from pathological cause, such as brain damage or hysteria

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amnesia Scientific  

/ ăm-nē′zhə /

1. Partial or total loss of memory, usually caused by brain injury or shock.

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amnesia Cultural  

1. A loss of memory, especially one brought on by some distressing or shocking experience.

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Discover More

A common variant is selective amnesia; the term is applied to public officials who, when questioned about alleged wrongdoing, profess that they cannot remember.

Other Word Forms

• amnesiac adjective
• amnestic adjective

Etymology

Origin of amnesia

1780–90; < New Latin < Greek amnēsía, variant of amnēstía oblivion; perhaps learnedly formed from mnē-, stem of mimnḗskesthai to remember ( cf. mnemonic) + -s- + -ia -ia. See amnesty

Explanation

When you have amnesia you can't remember what happened to you in the past. Amnesia is a total or partial memory loss. Some causes of amnesia are brain injury, disease, drug or alcohol abuse, and the deterioration of the brain associated with old age or dementia. With amnesia, memory can be regained, or it can be lost forever. It can be complete, encompassing everything you ever knew, or it can be specific to a time such as the hours leading up to an accident or trauma. If you forget the meaning of a word, it's not amnesia, that's just the way the mind works sometimes.

Example Sentences

Transient global amnesia is a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory.

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026

Some "suffer strokes upon hearing the news, others experience insomnia and amnesia", he told AFP.

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

For me, these bits and pieces of one man’s story connect to the longer and more tragic tale of the American-Afghan century, now erased in near-total amnesia.

From Salon • Dec. 13, 2025

A World War I soldier with post-traumatic amnesia is identified as the missing husband of a Belgian woman in this intimate epic by the Dutch novelist Anjet Daanje.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025

“So that’s what I’m praying for. I’m praying to la madre and to St. Jude for Mami to have amnesia and regain her memory and come home.”

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer