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.

---

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

---

forget More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing forget

• forgive and forget

---

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

I meet each new crisis with little more than a desire to muddle through, to patch it up well enough that I can forget about it.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

Be kind to others, by all means, but don’t forget to be kind to yourself.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

If a significant amount was owed, Ella says she would ask around three times before giving up but wouldn't necessarily forget about it.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

One can see the TV Guide thumbnails: Woody and Matthew forget to buy Valentine’s Day gifts for their wives.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

I shall never forget the first words he said to us.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

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

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

No matter how big he becomes, he never forgets where he came from.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Olympic hockey team’s win over the Soviets in 1980—is a triumph tattooed on the national memory, though the memory frequently forgets that the game wasn’t shown until three hours after the puck dropped.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

My heart forgets to beat, then bangs crazily.

From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads

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

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

Truly, I forgat the same at that time; and now I have not the money to mine hand.

From In Convent Walls The Story of the Despensers by M. (Madelaine) Irwin

I forgat to tell you, that you must lay a Puff-paste at the bottom of the dish, before you put in the bread, and cover it with the same.

From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Anne MacDonell

While nights at Deildar-Tongue were long, They clean forgat the Brothers'-Tongue.

From Poems By The Way & Love Is Enough by William Morris

"For everyone that I haven't sent back money to, I just forgot, feel free to double request me."

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

“One thing she never forgot was the cafe,” De Carmo said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

He seems to gradually rediscover his brother’s charms—“I forgot how funny he was.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Rolison’s case is one of inertia; he most likely forgot about his beneficiary designation entirely.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

My mind was a million miles away when suddenly my aunt said, “Eben McAllister, you’ve had your nose in that book so long, I forgot what you look like! Wakeup and see the world.”

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Chae, the defector, said her hope was that the North's isolated people are not one day simply forgotten by the outside world.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

And, with the museum’s dim lighting, dated technology and underutilized areas, it can feel at times as if one is wandering in a past-its-prime shopping mall or in the forgotten corner of an airport terminal.

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026

“It’s really quite radical to make this little old lady, one of the forgotten generation of left-behind women, your master sleuth.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

In the process, she discovered the forgotten digital detritus left on their hard drives: old resumes, photo albums, Word documents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

A stray cloth, a spoon, a rag doll, and a pink ribbon are scattered, forgotten.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

But which things are normal forgetting, associated with aging, and which things are signs of trouble?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

For those of us who were alive in 2001, forgetting the day itself is almost impossible.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

“She knows she has it. She knows she’s forgetting things. And this trip was an opportunity to not let the Alzheimer’s matter anymore.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The results can be found today in professional locker rooms around the country, today’s stars never forgetting the 5-foot-4 bulldog who gave them their first headline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

And getting chewed out by Mrs. Gruver for forgetting Oneg Shabbat isn’t going to help.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• fail
• ignore
• neglect
• overlook
• skip