remember
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think of again.
I'll try to remember the exact date.
- Antonyms:
- forget
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to retain in the memory; keep in mind; remain aware of.
Remember your appointment with the dentist.
- Antonyms:
- forget
-
to have (something) come into the mind again.
I just remembered that it's your birthday today.
-
to bear (a person) in mind as deserving a gift, reward, or fee.
The company always remembers us at Christmas.
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to give a tip, donation, or gift to.
to remember someone in need.
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to mention (a person) to another as sending kindly greetings.
Remember me to your family.
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(of an appliance, computer, etc.) to perform (a programmed activity) at a later time or according to a preset schedule.
The coffeepot remembers to start the coffee at 7 a.m. every day.
-
Archaic. to remind.
verb (used without object)
-
to possess or exercise the faculty of memory.
-
to have recollection (sometimes followed byof ).
The old man remembers of his youth.
verb
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to become aware of (something forgotten) again; bring back to one's consciousness; recall
-
to retain (an idea, intention, etc) in one's conscious mind
to remember Pythagoras' theorem
remember to do one's shopping
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(tr) to give money, etc, to (someone), as in a will or in tipping
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to mention (a person's name) to another person, as by way of greeting or friendship
remember me to your mother
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(tr) to mention (a person) favourably, as in prayer
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(tr) to commemorate (a person, event, etc)
to remember the dead of the wars
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to recover one's good manners after a lapse; stop behaving badly
Synonym Usage
Remember, recall, recollect refer to bringing back before the conscious mind things which exist in the memory. Remember implies that a thing exists in the memory, though not actually present in the thoughts at the moment: to remember the days of one's childhood. Recall implies a voluntary effort, though not a great one: to recall the words of a song. Recollect implies an earnest voluntary effort to remember some definite, desired fact or thing: I cannot recollect the exact circumstances.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rememberernoun
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rememberableadjective
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unrememberedadjective
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unrememberingadjective
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well-rememberedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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remembersimple
-
rememberssimple
-
have rememberedperfect
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has rememberedperfect
-
am rememberingprogressive
-
are rememberingprogressive
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is rememberingprogressive
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have been rememberingperfect progressive
-
has been rememberingperfect progressive
Past
-
rememberedsimple
-
had rememberedperfect
-
was rememberingprogressive
-
were rememberingprogressive
-
had been rememberingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of remember
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English remembren, from Old French remembrer, from Late Latin rememorārī, equivalent to re- re- + Latin memor “mindful” ( see memory) + -ārī infinitive suffix
Explanation
To remember is to recollect, or to call upon your memory. Remember that time you fell out of your tree house and bonked your head? No? Go figure. There are many shades of meaning of remember, but at its core it refers to the act of recalling or thinking back. You can remember something fondly, like your first kiss, or you might remember something suddenly, like when the smell of tar brings back the time your bicycle wheel got caught in a pot hole and you fell off. To remember someone means you show appreciation, like when the Oscar winners try to remember all those names.
Vocabulary lists containing remember
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"These outcomes suggest a better ability to remember information during everyday tasks and reducing mistakes related to memory, attention and problem-solving. Reductions in the eating window predicted greater improvements."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Whatever you do, remember that a 4% return barely covers inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
In her teenage years, she doodled poems in her diaries and made up verses about physics to help her remember things for her exams.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He described the third as a similarly sized Black man with dreadlocks but said he could not remember the man’s clothing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Long enough to remember when this garden was nothing but a patch of barren earth,” Clare said proudly.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
"The revolutions of the 1990s paved the way for the riches of the early noughties," he remembers.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Gaughan, 83, grew up in the city and remembers the late-night “chuck wagon” at the Flamingo, which his father once owned a stake in, a precursor of the modern Vegas buffet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
“This is making no sense. This guy is just looking at cybersecurity data sets,” he remembers thinking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
She remembers being mesmerized by the story’s wicked witch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
A supervisor remembers some of his workers begging to go home.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
But she couldn’t let this go; her colleagues had handled Salute’s case, and she remembered it well.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Over the last four or five years you saw it starting to take place. I never remembered it happening before.”
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
You may die, but your songs will be remembered 100 years from now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
I remembered Dr. Barrett’s words: “Feeling unpleasant doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong. It could just mean that you’re doing something hard.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
I remembered watching as she said, “Be kind to them so they’ll stay one more day and lay another egg or two for us.”
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
One of the things that has given Webb strength since her son's death is remembering the "positive spin" Jeremy put on life.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
They discovered that tau is not necessary for learning something new or remembering it shortly afterward.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Germany’s postwar identity was built around remembering its crimes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
It’s worth remembering that “The Studio” won comedy series last year, and its co-creator, Seth Rogen, prevailed here.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
He thought about Abby, guiltily remembering all the times he had resented having to wait for her.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
