unmemorableadj.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈmɛm(ə)rəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈmɛm(ə)rəb(ə)l/, /ˌənˈmɛmərb(ə)l/ A. adj.
Not memorable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > not worthy of notice or consideration > not memorable
unmemorable1598
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Immemorabile, vnmemorable, not worth the remembrance, forgetfull.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 142 Such was the vnmemorable vanity of the Heathens in theyr goddes and sacrifices.
1727 G. Ollyffe Disc. Divine Power 13 Kings..Whose Actions are own'd according to Herodotus, to be unmemorable.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. v. iii. 559 If a few things memorable are to be remembered, millions of things unmemorable must first be..forgotten!
1885 R. W. Dixon Hist. Church Eng. III. 229 A not unmemorable duel.
1945 ‘E. Crispin’ Holy Disorders i. 8 The outside world normally impressed itself on him as a vague and unmemorable succession of phantasms.
2010 D. A. Rothery Planets: Very Short Introd. ii. 58 Less notable features would be even harder to describe, unless by a totally unmemorable coordinate system.
B. n.
With the. (With plural agreement) unmemorable people or things as a class; (with singular agreement) that which is unmemorable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > [noun] > forgotten person or thing
oblivion1598
immemorable1768
unmemorable1862
1862 F. Harrison Meaning of Hist. i. 9 You are quite right if you pass by untouched these piles of memoirs of the unmemorable—these lives of those who never can be said to have lived.
1905 Burlington Mag. July 338/2 It is a common fallacy in the criticism of English painters to have too short a memory for the unmemorable, just as in some other countries the lesser lights at the moment seem to be magnified till they outshine the planets.
1970 tr. G. Debord Society of Spectacle ¶4 157 This individual experience of separate daily life..is forgotten to the profit of the false spectacular memory of the unmemorable.
1992 Commentary Feb. 46/1 What's the sense of remembering the unmemorable?
Derivatives
unˈmemorably adv.
ΚΠ
1909 A. M. Shaw & C. Beckwith Lady of Dynamos vii. 59 In the monotonous effort of the ascent..their talk was unmemorably simple.
1925 San Antonio (Texas) Express 16 Mar. 8/7 I hope, my dear, that you will read, Mark, learn and inwardly digest These words of wisdom, and take heed To be unmemorably dressed.
1973 Times 24 July 18/8 They were not noticeably handsome men—in fact, quite unmemorably ordinary.
2011 J. Martin Genius of Place xi. 135 Olmsted had met Vaux briefly and unmemorably during his own pilgrimage to Newburgh.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1598