forgotten

IPA/fəɡˈɒtən/
KK[fɚɡˈɑtən]IPA/fərɡˈɑːtən/

forgotten — adjective

1. no longer kept in anyone's memory; not thought about or mentioned by people anym

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

no longer kept in anyone's memory; not thought about or mentioned by people anymore.

Example

Eitan discovered a forgotten drawer full of old photographs in his grandmother's house.

attributive: forgotten + concrete noun (drawer)

The forgotten recipes of Soraya's great-grandmother were finally written down by her aunt.

Common collocations
  • forgotten history
  • forgotten tradition
  • forgotten hero
  • forgotten language
  • forgotten song
Synonyms
  • lost

    suggests something cannot be recovered at all, not just that it is out of mind

  • neglected

    adds the idea that someone failed to care for something, not merely that it left memory

  • overlooked

    implies a temporary failure to notice, not permanent erasure from memory

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

forgotten + [noun]

be + forgotten

Usage Note

Often paired with time expressions (long forgotten, now forgotten) to emphasise the gap since something was last remembered.

Common Mistakes

Many traditions are forgetting by young people.
Many traditions are forgotten by young people.
'Forgotten' is the past participle needed in the passive voice; 'forgetting' is the active present participle.

2. describes a place, building, or living thing that has been left without care or

2.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes a place, building, or living thing that has been left without care or attention for a long time.

Example

Naoko decided to plant vegetables in the forgotten garden behind the old school.

attributive before place noun (garden)

The forgotten playground was covered in weeds and its swings were broken.

Common collocations
  • forgotten garden
  • forgotten village
  • forgotten corner
  • forgotten dog
  • forgotten house
Synonyms
  • abandoned

    stronger — suggests people deliberately left and never returned

  • neglected

    focuses on lack of care; the person or thing may still be noticed

  • deserted

    emphasises emptiness and absence of people

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

forgotten + [place noun]

be + forgotten

Usage Note

Unlike the NOT REMEMBERED sense, this meaning focuses on physical neglect rather than mental erasure — the place still exists but has been abandoned or uncared for.

Common Mistakes

The old house was forgetting in the woods.
The old house was forgotten in the woods.
In passive constructions describing neglect, the past participle 'forgotten' is required, not the present participle 'forgetting'.

3. describes a personal object that someone accidentally did not take with them bec

3.adjectiveA2
Definition

describes a personal object that someone accidentally did not take with them because they did not think of it.

Example

Élise found her forgotten umbrella on the train and went back to collect it.

possessive pronoun + forgotten + object noun

A forgotten lunchbox sat on the school bench until the caretaker threw it away.

Common collocations
  • forgotten wallet
  • forgotten phone
  • forgotten keys
  • forgotten bag
  • forgotten umbrella
Synonyms
  • left behind

    more neutral — can be intentional or accidental; 'forgotten' is always accidental

  • abandoned

    too strong — suggests the owner chose to leave the item permanently

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

possessive + forgotten + [object noun]

a/an + forgotten + [object noun]

Usage Note

Typically used with everyday portable items (keys, phone, wallet, bag, umbrella). Only the attributive position is common — 'The keys are forgotten' sounds unnatural in this sense.

Common Mistakes

Christopher forgotten his jacket at the gym.
Christopher forgot his jacket at the gym.' or 'Christopher had forgotten his jacket at the gym.
Without 'have' or 'had', 'forgotten' cannot stand alone as a simple-past verb.

forgotten — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

While all four words describe something not receiving attention, forgotten implies that something has simply slipped from memory — no one thinks about it anymore, often through the passage of time. Neglected adds the idea that someone failed to care for something that still exists but is not maintained, such as a neglected garden with overgrown weeds. Overlooked means something was missed or not noticed at a particular moment, but it may be remembered later — for example, an overlooked detail in a report that is quickly corrected. Abandoned conveys a deliberate act of leaving something or someone behind permanently, often with emotional weight, like an abandoned house with boarded-up windows. Ignored is the most active — it means someone chose not to pay attention despite being aware, as in a student who ignored the teacher's warning. A forgotten poet has no readers at all; a neglected poet may have a few readers who fail to promote their work; an overlooked poem was accidentally left out of the anthology; an ignored poet receives criticism but no support.

neglected ↗overlooked ↗abandoned ↗ignored ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • long forgotten
  • now forgotten
  • never to be forgotten

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Forgotten comes from Old English 'forgieten', the past participle of 'forgietan' (to forget). The verb 'forget' is formed from the prefix 'for-' meaning 'away, completely' and 'gietan' meaning 'to get, to grasp'. So etymologically, to forget something is to lose your grasp of it completely. The adjective use emerged in Middle English as the participle came to describe things no longer held in anyone's memory.