forgetfulnessn.
/fəˈɡɛtf(ᵿ)lnəs/, U.S. /fərˈɡɛtf(ə)lnəs/ The quality or state of being forgetful.
1. The quality of being apt to forget, the state of forgetting.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > [noun] > forgetfulness, oblivion
forgetelnessa1000
forgetel-shipc1330
forgetting1340
forgettingnessa1387
obliviona1393
unremembrancec1449
forgetness1474
forgetfulness1477
oubliance1477
obliviousness?1531
oblivium1699
irrecollection1738
obliviscence1775
irretention1827
irretentiveness1849
oblivescence1880
Punjab head1887
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 10 Establisshe & ease.., thy foryetfulnesse, with thyn remembraunce.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique iii. 112 a Where ouer much cold is..there is euer muche forgetfulnesse.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 282 This..he did not do out of design, but pure forgetfullness.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 366 Each in slumber shares A sweet forgetfulness of human cares.
1783 Ld. Hailes Disquis. Antiq. Christian Church iv. 81 (note) Such was..the constitutional forgetfulness of Claudius.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxx. 295 He smiled upon all present in happy forgetfulness of having exhibited symptoms of pugnacity.
2. The condition of forgetting or losing recollection of everything.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > [noun] > act of forgetting
forgetting1340
unmindinga1382
forgetfulness1398
forget1861
memory lapse1893
brain freeze1985
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) xiii. i. 440 In Boecia ben two welles, that one makith good mynde, and that other makyth foryetfulnesse.
14.. Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. 116 Euer with deth cometh forgetfulnes.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (2nd issue) iii. i. 8 Ô gentle sleep..thou no more wilt weigh my eye-liddes downe, And steep my sences in forgetfulnesse . View more context for this quotation
3. The state of being forgotten, oblivion. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > [noun] > state of being forgotten, oblivion
forgettinga1050
oblivionc1425
oblivya1500
obliviance?1504
forgetfulness1561
obliviancy1820
forgottenness1924
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. (1634) iv. xviii. 704 This Masse..shamefully..putteth his death in forgetfulnesse.
1663 W. Charleton Chorea Gigantum 5 Monuments themselves are subject to Forgetfulness even while they remain.
1781 S. Johnson Mallet in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets X. 12 [His] Amyntor and Theodora..is now lost in forgetfulness.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. xiv. 143 The forgetfulness of one buried is nothing to the forgetfulness of one disgraced.
4. Disregard, inattention, neglect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > [noun] > neglect
unattendancec1449
nonchaloir1496
negligencya1500
obliviona1500
neglecting1539
misregard1543
forgetfulness1576
neglect1598
negligence1604
neglection1609
neglectiveness1621
disattention1624
disregarding1659
slightiness1662
disregard1733
1576 A. Fleming tr. Hippocrates in Panoplie Epist. 272 It doeth kindle in his mynde, forgetfulnesse of himselfe.
1757 S. Johnson Rambler No. 180. ⁋5 He..naturally sinks from omission to forgetfulness of social duties.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 211 Victory sometimes produces forgetfulness of education.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1398- in the eye of the law
- in the eyes of
- in the eyes of common sense
- in the eyes of the law
- in the eyes of the world
- in the face of
- in the face of adversity
- in the face of day
- in the face of it
- in the face of the sun
- in the family way
- in the far off
- in the farness
- in the feeling
- in the field
- in the fieri
- in the final analysis
- in the fine
- in the firing line
- in the first
- in the first brunt
- in the first degree
- in the first face
- in the first flight
- in the first flush