forgettable

Etymology

It is formed from English forget + -able.^[2][3][4][5] The verb goes back to Old English forgietan (“to lose from the mind, fail to remember”), made from for-, here with a sense of loss or reversal, and gietan (“to grasp”), the source of get, so that it meant to lose one's hold on something.^[3][2] Klein compares other adjectives in -able such as adoptable and affordable.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

That can be forgotten: Etymonline dates it to 1827, in a translation from German by Carlyle,^[3] while the OED's first quotation is Carlyle's edition of Cromwell's letters and speeches (1845), the date Merriam-Webster also gives.^[2][4][6] Klein too credits the word to Carlyle.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The negative unforgettable is older, recorded from 1806,^[2][4][3] although Etymonline analyses it as un- plus forgettable.^[3] The OED's sense is simply "that may be forgotten",^[2] but the usual meaning now is "easily forgotten" or "not worth remembering", as of a film.^[6][7][1]

Timeline

• 1827 – that may be forgotten, in Carlyle.^[3][5] The OED and Merriam-Webster first record it in 1845.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Likely or deserving to be forgotten; not memorable or notable: It was a forgettable game played in the rain.^[6][7][4][1]
2. Able to be forgotten.^[2][1]

Related words

• forget
• unforgettable
• get

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin