total recall

American  

noun

1. the ability to remember with complete, detailed accuracy.

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total recall British  

noun

1. psychol the faculty or an instance of complete and clear recall of every detail of something

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Etymology

Origin of total recall

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

While remarkable, RJ’s total recall doesn’t put him in the category of an autistic savant, the best-known of whom is a Hollywood creation.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2023

The total recall figure is almost equivalent to the 500,000 cars Tesla delivered last year, Reuters reports.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2021

But I suspect this is true of many omnivorous readers, except perhaps the tiny minority with freakish total recall, a trait that might prove oppressive to live with anyway.

From New York Times • Jan. 10, 2020

The movie tells the story of a world that has forgotten the Beatles ever existed but, in a twist of Lars von Trier-level cinematic bleakness, has total recall of James Corden.

From The Guardian • Feb. 14, 2019

I have almost total recall, every face is there, every hill and tree and color, and sound of speech and small scenes ready to replay themselves in my memory.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck