Forgetful means often failing to remember things. Getting forgetful, a forgetful child, forgetful of the time.
It describes a habit rather than a single lapse, and it is usually gentle — calling somebody forgetful is far kinder than the alternatives. Forgetful of something means neglecting it, which is a slightly formal construction. Note forgetfulness; and that everyday forgetting is normal and is not the same as the memory loss that worries people, though the word covers both.
1adjectiveforgetfulOften failing to remember things.
“My grandfather is getting forgetful and often leaves his keys in the door.”
forgetful is a quality of poor memory.
Middle English forgetful is forget plus -ful, from Old English forgietan — for- plus gietan, to get. The for- here means away or amiss.
Middle English
*forgetful
English, today
forgetful
Built from
From Middle English forgetful, forȝetful (suggested by derivative forgetfulnesse, forȝetfulnesse (“forgetfulness”)), equivalent to forget + ful.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA