The word "forgetful" is spelled with two syllables: "for" and "getful," with the primary stress on the second syllable. The first syllable is pronounced with the "or" sound, as in "fort." The second syllable is pronounced with a short "eh" sound, followed by a soft "t" and "ful." The IPA transcription for "forgetful" is /fərˈɡɛtfəl/. This word refers to someone who is prone to forgetting things or who has a poor memory, and it may be used to describe a person, a behavior, or a mindset.
Forgetful is an adjective used to describe someone who has a tendency to forget or fail to remember information or events. It refers to a characteristic or a state of being that involves being prone to forgetting things, often unintentionally or involuntarily.
When applied to people, forgetful often implies a frequent or recurring pattern of memory lapses, where individuals may struggle to keep track of various aspects of their lives. It can manifest in forgetting appointments, errands, tasks, or even important dates, such as birthdays or anniversaries. Forgetful individuals may also struggle with recalling names, facts, or details from past experiences.
On a broader scale, forgetfulness can be seen as a temporary or occasional condition resulting from a lack of attention, mental fatigue, or simply having too much on one's mind. It is important to differentiate between occasional forgetfulness and more serious memory-related issues, as forgetfulness is generally considered a normal and common human trait.
Furthermore, forgetfulness can also refer to the quality or characteristic of an object or system that is not reliable in maintaining or retaining information. For example, a forgetful alarm clock may fail to ring at the desired time consistently.
In summary, forgetful describes a person's inclination to forget, omit, or overlook information or events, either occasionally, frequently, or as a persistent characteristic.
Inattentive; negligent; apt to forget.
Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word forgetful is derived from the combination of two Old English words: for meaning completely and gietan meaning to grasp or to get. Over time, these words combined to form the Middle English word forgeten, which means to lose from memory or to neglect. The addition of the suffix -ful, which indicates a full or abundant quality, resulted in the word forgetful, meaning full of forgetfulness or likely to forget.