tip of the tongue
Memory's frustrating edge
Tip of the tongue describes the frustrating state of almost but not quite recalling something—a name, word, or fact that feels retrievable yet refuses to surface: It's on the tip of my tongue, just give me a second.
The phrase captures the sensation that the memory is physically close, hovering just out of reach.
- forgottenNo longer recalled
- rememberRetain in mind
- memoryMind's retention capacity
- wordLinguistic meaning unit
- retrieveGet something back
slipped my mind · lapse · almost · just out of reach · elusive · frustrating · recall · brain · speech · taste · sensation · mouth · blanking · searching · familiar · knowing · mental · block
- psycholinguisticslanguage processing, language comprehension, word recognition, priming, language disorders
- expressions about forgetfulnessslipped my mind, drew a blank, blanked out, absentminded, memory like a sieve
- speech errorsmispronunciation, malapropism, malapropisms, spoonerism, spoonerisms
tip of the tonguetotal recall
Complete, perfect remembrance
eureka moment · photographic memory · drawn a blank · crystal clear · right there
tip of the tonguecrystal clear
Entirely unambiguous, perfectly understood
committed to memory · second nature · automatic · ingrained · clueless
tip of the tongueabsolute certainty
State of having no doubt
clear as day · clueless · blissful ignorance · no idea · drawing a blank