forgetfulness
Mind going blank
Forgetfulness is the tendency or state of failing to remember things.
It can be a temporary condition brought on by distraction or stress, or a more persistent trait in someone prone to overlooking details and appointments.
His forgetfulness about our anniversary caused a major argument.
While often treated lightly, chronic forgetfulness may signal deeper issues with memory or attention.
The word also carries a gentler sense of letting go: forgetfulness of past wrongs can be a path to reconciliation.
Pathological loss of recall
- dementiaChronic cognitive impairment
- Alzheimer'sDegenerative brain disease
- recallMemory retrieval act
- hippocampusMemory formation region
encoding · retrieval · blackout · confabulation · tip-of-the-tongue · fugue · retrograde · anterograde
Lacking mental focus
- distractedUnable to concentrate
- preoccupiedMentally elsewhere, not present
- inattentiveNot paying attention
- unfocusedWithout clear direction
spacey · dreamy · oblivious · heedless · careless · disorganized · muddleheaded · bemused
Supervision or inadvertent omission
- disregardWillful lack of attention
- overlookMiss or commanding view
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
- omissionFailure to include
inattention · carelessness · remissness · laxity · dereliction · abandonment · indifference · unmindfulness
Decreasing in brightness
- waningGradually decreasing in intensity
- deterioratingBecoming progressively worse
- erodingGradually wearing away
- slippingLosing footing unintentionally
receding · blurring · hazy · foggy · clouded · faint · unclear · fragmentary
Act of wiping away
- vanishingCeasing to be visible
- blanknessState of being empty
- voidWithout legal effect
- nothingnessComplete absence of existence
limbo · obscurity · buried · suppression · repression · wiped · blocked
amnesia
Pathological loss of recall
- dementiaChronic cognitive impairment
- Alzheimer'sDegenerative brain disease
- recallMemory retrieval act
hippocampus · encoding · retrieval · blackout · confabulation · tip-of-the-tongue · fugue · retrograde · anterograde · age-related
scatterbrained
Lacking mental focus
- distractedUnable to concentrate
- preoccupiedMentally elsewhere, not present
- inattentiveNot paying attention
unfocused · spacey · dreamy · oblivious · heedless · careless · disorganized · muddleheaded · bemused · flaky
oversight
Supervision or inadvertent omission
- disregardWillful lack of attention
- overlookMiss or commanding view
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
omission · inattention · carelessness · remissness · laxity · dereliction · abandonment · indifference · unmindfulness · heedlessness
dimming
Decreasing in brightness
- waningGradually decreasing in intensity
- deterioratingBecoming progressively worse
- erodingGradually wearing away
slipping · receding · blurring · hazy · foggy · clouded · faint · unclear · fragmentary · patchy
erasure
Act of wiping away
nothingness · limbo · obscurity · buried · suppression · repression · wiped · blocked
- absent-mindednessabsent-minded, distraction, spacing out, zoning out, daydreaming
- fatigue symptomsexhaustion, tiredness, drowsiness, sleepiness, yawning
- skill deficiencyincompetence, ineptitude, clumsiness, awkwardness, inexperience
- cognitive agingcognitive decline, memory decline, memory loss, brain aging, aging brain
- cognitive symptomsmemory loss, confusion, disorientation, brain fog, poor concentration
- mental impairmentconfusion, disorientation, brain fog, memory loss, dementia
forgetfulnessmemory
Mind's retention capacity
remembrance · recall · retention · retentiveness · total recall
forgetfulnessmindfulness
Awareness of the present
attentiveness · awareness · alertness · heedfulness · consciousness
forgetfulnessreliability
Consistent, predictable performance
dependability · conscientiousness · diligence · punctiliousness · meticulousness
forget, forgotten, forgetful, forgot, forgetting, forgets, unforgettable, forgettable, forgetter