forget it

Idioms  

1. Overlook it, it's not important; you're quite mistaken. This colloquial imperative is used in a variety of ways. For example, in Thanks so much for helping—Forget it, it was nothing, it is a substitute for “don't mention it” or you're welcome; in Stop counting the change—forget it! it means “stop doing something unimportant” in You think assembling this swingset was easy—forget it! it means “it was not at all easy”; and in Forget it—you'll never understand this theorem it means that the possibility of your understanding it is hopeless. [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

“Miss Cornelia, your daddy was my friend, and what happened to his brother Matthew that night was a tragedy. I’ll never forget it. Drove his widow right out of town, as I recall.”

From Literature

For much of mankind’s history, mere day-to-day survival has been the real priority — and, lest we forget, it still is for a good part of the planet’s population.

From MarketWatch

If you think the U.S. could handle a 50% decline in young people entering the workforce, forget it.

From Barron's

Yet what also interests me about that lyric is how easily we forget it in practice.

From Salon

“You want to actively increase your retirement contributions. So many people do ‘set it and forget it,’ and it’s so easy to gloss over.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• back down
• back off
• cancel
• deny
• disavow
• disown
• pull back
• recant
• renege
• renounce
• repeal
• repudiate
• rescind
• reverse
• revoke
• rule out
• take back
• withdraw