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

“My whole thing is: When you use generative AI to come up with ideas, people forget what ideas were theirs and what ideas were the computer’s,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 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

"You don't really have too many halves of a cricket ball, so it would be something that we never forget."

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

“You are young too, Sam. Don’t forget that.”

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

"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

There’s a great accidental gag in a cut bit from the original MTV pilot when a deputy pulls up to arrest Knoxville and forgets to put her car in park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

“And then you'll see how quickly he forgets his big brother.”

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke

But then ’gan he to talk of mine eyes, which he is ever a-praising, and after a while I forgat my disease.

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

"And I visit upon her the days of the Baalim, to whom she burnt incense, and put on her ring and her ornament, and went after her lovers, and forgat Me, saith the Lord."

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

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

Kate forgat her leg, and Jack his mowes, and all we, stag and hunters alike, ran to the gallery window for to gaze.

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

In the preterit some are likewise formed by a, as brake, spake, bare, share, sware, tare, ware, clave, gat, begat, forgat, and perhaps some others, but more rarely.

From A Grammar of the English Tongue by Samuel Johnson

Matthew Rhys: I forgot about the executive producer part.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Despite Tyler's career taking her all over the world, she has been described by those living in Mumbles as a "Swansea girl through and through", and someone who "never forgot where she came from".

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

The light-bodied red, Passeggiata, he explained, was a rosé gone wrong when winemakers forgot to remove the grapes’ skins at the correct time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

That will help you realize things like this faucet doesn’t get hot water or I forgot to put an ice cream scoop in the kitchen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Amidst throngs of happy people Sadako forgot her secret for a while.

From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr

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

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

A series of powerful hurricane-driven swells have surfaced forgotten remnants of Newport Beach’s infrastructure that lay buried beneath sand and water for many decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

One message reads: "For Elisabeth, May you rest in peace and may your memory live on in the hearts of us all. With deepest sympathy and respect. You will not be forgotten."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 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

On my bed lay the new maroon dress; I had forgotten to put it back on.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Corey Seemiller told me every generation tends to romanticize the version of young adulthood it experienced while quietly forgetting the parts that weren’t so glamorous.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The UK's first billionaire sportsman has been in so many adverts from Home Depot to Bank of America, you could be forgiven for forgetting what brand he is actually representing.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

“When Bobby called asking me to play bass with the Wolf Bros, I thought at the very least, this is going to be a master class in losing self-consciousness and forgetting about fear,” Was said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

He seemed to be in danger of forgetting the seriousness of the occasion.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• fail
• ignore
• neglect
• overlook
• skip