forgetfulness
/fəˈɡɛtfʊlnɪs/noun
forgetfulness is spelled F-O-R-G-E-T-F-U-L-N-E-S-S: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, forgetfulness means “The quality of being forgetful; proneness to let slip from the mind” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of forgetfulness is forgetfulnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in forgetfulness?
| Letters | 13: F-O-R-G-E-T-F-U-L-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is forgetfulness?
Forgetfulness appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce forgetfulness?
- /fəˈɡɛtfʊlnɪs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-forgetfulness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of forgetfulness
- forgetfulnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does forgetfulness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being forgetful; proneness to let slip from the mind.
- 2
Loss of remembrance or recollection; a ceasing to remember; oblivion.
- 3
Failure to bear in mind; careless omission; inattention.
forgetfulness of duty
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forgetfulness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étourderie , oubli |
| German | Vergesslichkeit , Vergessen, Vergessenheit |
| Portuguese | esquecimento , olvido |
| Spanish | desmemoria, mala memoria, poca memoria, memoria de pollo , olvido, pérdida de memoria |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does forgetfulness come from?
From Middle English forgetfulnes, forgetfulnesse, forȝetfulnesse, equivalent to forgetful + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).