forgetful

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   likely to forget things or unable to remember them well

   My grandfather has become forgetful and often misplaces his keys.

2. 2
   adj

   failing to remember or pay proper attention to a duty, fact, or person

   She was never forgetful of the help her neighbours had given her.

From Middle English forgetful, formed from forget + -ful. The suffix here means 'characterized by' or 'liable to,' so a forgetful person is one characterized by forgetting. The related noun forgetfulness is attested from the same Middle English period.

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