drawing a blank
Can't recall anything
Drawing a blank is failing to remember or retrieve something when you need it.
The phrase comes from lotteries where a blank ticket wins nothing—you reach in and come up empty.
I know we've met before, but I'm drawing a blank on your name.
It also applies to unsuccessful searches: Detectives drew a blank on the missing weapon.
- forgettingFailing to retain memories
- tip of tongueEdge of speech organ
- memory lapseBrief forgetting episode
- emptyHolding nothing inside
- recallMemory retrieval act
mental block · frustration · pause · embarrassment · brain fog · senior moment · brain fart · silence · awkward silence · amnesia · exams · confusion · interviews · question · trivia games · brainstorming · public speaking · creative writing
- expressions about forgetfulnessslipped my mind, absentminded, memory like a sieve, mind like a sieve, mental block
- inattentiondistracted, spacing, absent-minded, distraction, obliviousness
- Memory Lossamnesia, forgetting, forgetfulness, memory loss, memory lapse
drawing a blanktotal recall
Complete, perfect remembrance
remembering · recalling · recollecting · summoning up · photographic memory
drawing a blankclicking
Making short sharp sounds
getting it · mental clarity · sharp as a tack · quick on the uptake · grasping
drawing a blanklight bulb moment
Sudden moment of realization
eureka moment · flash of insight · in the zone · on a roll · firing on all cylinders
draw, drawing, draws, drawn, drawable, drawer, drawers, redraw, redrawn