self-forgetful

[self-fer-get-fuhl, self-]

adjective

1. forgetful or not thinking of one's own advantage, interest, etc.

self-forgetful

adjective

1. forgetful of one's own interests

Other Word Forms

• self-forgetfully adverb
• self-forgetfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-forgetful¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

The girl, momentarily self-forgetful, is absorbed in her process, “hunkered over her drawing pad, / humming, for an hour.”

Read more on The New Yorker

Levé’s nonlinear stream of recollections about his friend denies the reader the self-forgetful pleasure of the traditional novel: that of entering another world, elaborate yet comprehensible.

Read more on Salon

Both try to achieve a joyous, self-forgetful involvement through concentration, which, in turn, is made possible through discipline of body.”

Read more on Forbes

He thrusts his hips quickly, his face expressing nothing but self-forgetful pleasure.

Read more on Salon

There's a precision and inevitability of movement from line to line which seem self-forgetful.

Read more on The Guardian