60 Idioms for Forget

Idioms are fun phrases where the words together mean something totally different from what they say one by one. People use them to make talking and writing more colorful, exciting, and full of life. Today, you are going to learn a bunch of helpful idioms that all have to do with forgetting something or letting slip a memory.

In this lesson, we’ll look at idioms for forget that mean losing track of a memory or forgetting information. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.

Idioms for Forget

1. Slip one’s mind

Meaning: To be forgotten temporarily so that you cannot remember it right away.

For Example: The answer to the math question completely slipped my mind during the test. / Where I put my red jacket slipped my mind until I checked the closet.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Escape memory

2. Go in one ear and out the other

Meaning: To hear something and forget it immediately without paying attention.

For Example: Advice from his mom often goes in one ear and out the other. / Make sure the teacher’s instructions do not go in one ear and out the other.

Other Ways to Say: Forget quickly / Ignore completely

3. Draw a blank

Meaning: To fail to remember something even though you try hard to think of it.

For Example: When the teacher asked for the capital city, I drew a blank. / My mind drew a blank when I tried to recall my locker combination.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Go blank

4. Lose one’s train of thought

Meaning: To forget what you were talking about or thinking right in the middle of it.

For Example: The loud siren outside made me lose my train of thought during my speech. / I lost my train of thought when my dog barked at the mail carrier.

Other Ways to Say: Get confused / Forget the point

5. Clear out of one’s head

Meaning: To completely forget something and push it out of your thoughts.

For Example: I tried to let the silly argument clear out of my head by playtime. / Once the test was over, all the difficult formulas cleared out of my head.

Other Ways to Say: Wipe clean / Forget entirely

6. Have a senior moment

Meaning: A brief moment of forgetfulness where you cannot remember something simple.

For Example: I walked into the kitchen and had a senior moment about why I went there. / Looking for glasses that are already on your face is a classic case of having a senior moment.

Other Ways to Say: Brief forgetfulness / Mind blank

7. Brain fade

Meaning: A temporary loss of memory or focus where you forget what to do next.

For Example: I suffered a total brain fade halfway through playing my piano solo. / A sudden brain fade made me forget the next line of the school play.

Other Ways to Say: Mental block / Temporary lapse

8. Let slip from memory

Meaning: To allow a piece of information to fade away and be forgotten.

For Example: The date of the science fair let slip from memory until my mom reminded me. / Do not let the spelling words slip from memory before Friday.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Misremember

9. Cast into oblivion

Meaning: To forget something completely so that it is gone forever.

For Example: The embarrassing mistake was cast into oblivion after we won the game. / Old broken toys are often cast into oblivion in the back of the garage.

Other Ways to Say: Erase / Forget completely

10. Blank out

Meaning: To stop thinking or remember nothing for a short amount of time.

For Example: My brain decided to blank out right when the spelling bee started. / Try not to panic or you might blank out during your presentation.

Other Ways to Say: Freeze up / Forget

11. Lose the thread

Meaning: To forget the main idea or story line of what is happening.

For Example: The movie was so confusing that I lost the thread of the plot. / He spoke so fast that I quickly lost the thread of his story.

Other Ways to Say: Get lost / Lose track

12. Drop out of sight

Meaning: To disappear from memory or lose track of something over time.

For Example: My favorite blue crayon seemed to drop out of sight in the messy art bin. / Old childhood games sometimes drop out of sight as kids grow up.

Other Ways to Say: Disappear / Fade away

13. Fade from memory

Meaning: To be forgotten slowly as time passes by.

For Example: Memories of our kindergarten classroom slowly fade from memory as we grow older. / The details of the dream began to fade from memory right after waking up.

Other Ways to Say: Grow dim / Be forgotten

14. Pass out of one’s mind

Meaning: To leave a person’s thoughts completely and be forgotten.

For Example: The silly argument passed out of my mind by the time we ate lunch. / His promise to help me clean up seemed to pass out of his mind.

Other Ways to Say: Slip away / Be forgotten

15. Lose track

Meaning: To fail to remember where something is or what time it is.

For Example: I always lose track of time when I am reading an amazing adventure book. / We lost track of our hiking group when we stopped to look at a butterfly.

Other Ways to Say: Misplace / Forget count

16. Put out of one’s head

Meaning: To force yourself to stop thinking about and forget something.

For Example: Try to put the scary movie out of your head before you go to sleep. / I had to put my worries about the test out of my head and relax.

Other Ways to Say: Dismiss / Forget on purpose

17. Wipe from the slate

Meaning: To completely erase a memory, mistake, or past problem.

For Example: The teacher decided to wipe our minor classroom chatter from the slate. / Let us wipe yesterday’s argument from the slate and be friends again today.

Other Ways to Say: Start over / Erase

18. Sweep under the rug

Meaning: To pretend something never happened so people will forget about it.

For Example: You cannot just sweep your messy bedroom chores under the rug. / The team tried to sweep their bad practice session under the rug and focus on winning.

Other Ways to Say: Hide / Ignore

19. Let bygones be bygones

Meaning: To forget past quarrels and move forward in a friendly way.

For Example: We shook hands and decided to let bygones be bygones after the soccer game. / It is best to let bygones be bygones and forgive your sister.

Other Ways to Say: Forgive and forget / Move on

20. Bury the hatchet

Meaning: To forget old arguments and make peace with someone.

For Example: The two rival clubs decided to bury the hatchet and work on the science fair together. / After a silly disagreement, they buried the hatchet and shared their snacks.

Other Ways to Say: Make peace / Stop fighting

21. Wipe clean

Meaning: To erase completely from memory or records.

For Example: The hard drive error caused the computer to wipe clean my saved drawing. / She wished she could wipe clean her clumsy fall in the hallway.

Other Ways to Say: Erase / Clear

22. Erase from memory

Meaning: To completely remove a thought or experience so it is forgotten.

For Example: He tried to erase from memory the scary moment he lost his mom at the store. / Some funny memories are too wonderful to ever erase from memory.

Other Ways to Say: Delete / Forget

23. Out of sight, out of mind

Meaning: A saying meaning if you cannot see something, you will quickly forget about it.

For Example: I hid the leftover Halloween candy in the high cabinet because out of sight, out of mind. / Put your video game controller away so you can study, because out of sight, out of mind.

Other Ways to Say: Easily forgotten / Hidden away

24. Blank slate

Meaning: A fresh start where past memories or mistakes are completely forgotten.

For Example: Starting a new school year feels like walking into a clean blank slate. / The art teacher gave us each a blank slate to paint our dreams.

Other Ways to Say: Fresh start / Clean beginning

25. Wipe the slate clean

Meaning: To forget past mistakes and begin fresh with a clear mind.

For Example: The coach told us to wipe the slate clean after losing the first half of the game. / Apologizing helps everyone wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

Other Ways to Say: Fresh start / Start over

26. Lose one’s grip

Meaning: To forget how to handle things or lose mental control momentarily.

For Example: I felt like I was starting to lose my grip when all my school books tumbled down. / Don’t lose your grip on the project instructions.

Other Ways to Say: Get confused / Forget instructions

27. Fog up

Meaning: When your brain becomes cloudy and you temporarily forget details.

For Example: My brain started to fog up after studying history vocabulary for two hours straight. / Take a quick stretch break if your thoughts begin to fog up.

Other Ways to Say: Get cloudy / Lose focus

28. Go blank

Meaning: To have your mind suddenly empty of all thoughts or answers.

For Example: My vision did not change, but my brain went blank when the principal asked me a question. / Practice your speech so your mind does not go blank on stage.

Other Ways to Say: Freeze / Forget everything

29. Drop from memory

Meaning: To fall away from your thoughts and be forgotten over time.

For Example: The minor details of the movie plot began to drop from memory by evening. / Important safety rules should never be allowed to drop from memory.

Other Ways to Say: Fade away / Forget

30. Lose the plot

Meaning: To forget what you are supposed to be doing or what is happening.

For Example: I got so distracted by the funny cartoon that I lost the plot of my reading assignment. / The speaker rambled on for so long that he completely lost the plot.

Other Ways to Say: Get confused / Lose focus

31. Misplace a memory

Meaning: To temporarily forget where you stored a piece of information.

For Example: I seemed to misplace a memory of where I put my house key. / It is normal to misplace a memory of a minor fact now and then.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Lose track

32. Drop the ball on remembering

Meaning: To fail to remember an important task or detail.

For Example: I dropped the ball on remembering to bring my library book back today. / Make sure you do not drop the ball on remembering your sports gear.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Make a mistake

33. Let slip

Meaning: To accidentally reveal a secret or forget to keep quiet.

For Example: I tried to keep the surprise party quiet, but I let slip the secret to my sister. / Don’t let slip where we hid the birthday presents.

Other Ways to Say: Spill the secret / Reveal

34. Slip from the tongue

Meaning: To say something accidentally that you meant to keep quiet or forget.

For Example: The fun destination of our field trip slipped from my tongue before the teacher announced it. / Watch your words so a secret doesn’t slip from your tongue.

Other Ways to Say: Accidental spill / Blur out

35. Let go of the past

Meaning: To choose to forget old hurts and move forward happily.

For Example: It feels wonderful to let go of the past and enjoy today’s sunshine. / She decided to let go of the past argument and play jump rope.

Other Ways to Say: Move on / Forgive

36. Put behind one

Meaning: To leave past mistakes or forgotten troubles behind you.

For Example: Put your poor test score behind you and study hard for the next one. / He put his shyness behind him and stepped onto the stage.

Other Ways to Say: Move forward / Forget past

37. Leave behind

Meaning: To physically or mentally forget something and move on without it.

For Example: I accidentally left my lunchbox behind on the yellow school bus. / Try to leave your worries behind when you enter the playground.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Abandon

38. Dismiss from thought

Meaning: To intentionally put something out of your mind and forget it.

For Example: The principal told us to dismiss from thought any rumors we heard online. / I tried to dismiss from thought the scary noise outside my window.

Other Ways to Say: Push away / Forget

39. Brush under the carpet

Meaning: To ignore and pretend a forgotten issue never existed.

For Example: You cannot just brush your broken promise under the carpet. / Fixing a problem is better than trying to brush it under the carpet.

Other Ways to Say: Hide / Ignore

40. Cast aside

Meaning: To throw away or forget something that is no longer needed.

For Example: He cast aside his old baby blanket when he got a big kid sleeping bag. / Cast aside your doubts and try climbing the rock wall.

Other Ways to Say: Toss away / Forget

41. Dismiss from the mind

Meaning: To actively stop thinking about something so it leaves your memory.

For Example: She tried to dismiss from the mind her fear of public speaking. / Once the test was turned in, I dismissed the hard questions from the mind.

Other Ways to Say: Put out of head / Forget

42. Fall out of mind

Meaning: To be forgotten naturally as time goes by.

For Example: Unimportant chores tend to fall out of mind when fun games are around. / The names of minor characters in the book fell out of mind quickly.

Other Ways to Say: Fade / Be forgotten

43. Fade away

Meaning: To disappear gradually until it is completely forgotten.

For Example: The chalk drawing on the sidewalk will fade away after the rainstorm. / My nervous feeling began to fade away as soon as the music started.

Other Ways to Say: Disappear / Vanish

44. Melt from memory

Meaning: For a memory to dissolve and disappear like ice in the sun.

For Example: The details of the strange dream seemed to melt from memory by noon. / Do not let these important math formulas melt from memory before Friday.

Other Ways to Say: Dissolve / Fade

45. Lose grip on facts

Meaning: To forget the true details of a story or event.

For Example: When telling the story, he started to lose grip on facts and made up silly parts. / Check your notes so you do not lose grip on facts during your report.

Other Ways to Say: Forget details / Get confused

46. Draw a blank stare

Meaning: To forget what someone said and look at them with a completely empty expression.

For Example: When the teacher asked a hard question, my face drew a blank stare. / He gave the cashier a blank stare when she asked for his zip code.

Other Ways to Say: Look confused / Draw a blank

47. Foggy memory

Meaning: A memory that is unclear, fuzzy, and hard to remember accurately.

For Example: I have a foggy memory of what we ate for dinner three days ago. / My foggy memory made it tough to recall where I hid my baseball glove.

Other Ways to Say: Unclear memory / Hazy recollection

48. Hazy recollection

Meaning: A memory that is not sharp or clear in your mind.

For Example: I only have a hazy recollection of visiting that museum when I was tiny. / His hazy recollection of the movie ending made it hard to discuss.

Other Ways to Say: Foggy memory / Vague thought

49. Vague memory

Meaning: A memory lacking clear details or sharp images.

For Example: I have a vague memory of a red bicycle I rode as a toddler. / The directions to the park were just a vague memory in my head.

Other Ways to Say: Faint recollection / Hazy memory

50. Faint trace

Meaning: A tiny, almost forgotten hint of a memory left behind.

For Example: Only a faint trace of chalk remained on the board after cleaning. / I had a faint trace of a memory about where my lost coin was.

Other Ways to Say: Slight memory / Whisper of a thought

51. Wipe out

Meaning: To completely erase information or memory of an event.

For Example: The computer glitch managed to wipe out my entire digital painting. / I wish I could wipe out the memory of tripping in the cafeteria.

Other Ways to Say: Erase / Delete

52. Erase from the record

Meaning: To completely remove and forget past mistakes or scores.

For Example: The teacher gave us a second chance and offered to erase the tardy from the record. / We want to erase last week’s messy game from the record.

Other Ways to Say: Clear / Wipe clean

53. Push out of mindy

Meaning: To force a stressful or unwanted thought out of your head.

For Example: I tried to push out of mind the spooky sounds coming from the attic. / Push out of mind your nervousness and step up to the plate.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Dismiss

54. Put behind us

Meaning: To agree to forget a past trouble and look forward.

For Example: Let us put this silly disagreement behind us and build our Lego fort. / The class decided to put their group project stress behind us.

Other Ways to Say: Move on / Forget the past

55. Let it go

Meaning: To stop thinking about or worrying over something and forget it.

For Example: It was a small mistake, so you should just let it go. / When someone teases you playfully, the best choice is to let it go.

Other Ways to Say: Move on / Forget it

56. Drop the subject

Meaning: To stop talking about something and let it be forgotten.

For Example: When Mom said no to another cookie, I knew to drop the subject. / Let us drop the subject of who lost the board game piece and play outside.

Other Ways to Say: Stop talking about it / Forget it

57. Turn the page

Meaning: To leave past memories or mistakes behind and start fresh.

For Example: After the tough test, it is time to turn the page and study for art. / She decided to turn the page and make new friends at school.

Other Ways to Say: Fresh start / Move forward

58. Wipe the slate

Meaning: Short for clearing away past mistakes and starting over.

For Example: The referee told both teams to wipe the slate and play fair. / I want to wipe the slate and show I can follow classroom rules.

Other Ways to Say: Fresh start / Erase past

59. Leave in the past

Meaning: To keep old memories or arguments behind without bringing them up again.

For Example: Let us leave our old kindergarten squabbles in the past. / Bad games happen, so we should leave this loss in the past.

Other Ways to Say: Forget / Move on

60. Cast into the past

Meaning: To send old memories or worries away so they are forgotten.

For Example: We cast our winter worries into the past and welcomed spring flowers. / Let us cast those old mistakes into the past where they belong.

Other Ways to Say: Leave behind / Forget

Exercise to Practice

1. The answer to the history question completely ________ my mind during the quiz.
2. When the teacher called my name, my brain suddenly ________ and I forgot my speech.
3. Try not to worry about the silly argument and just ________.
4. I always ________ of time when I get lost reading a great mystery book.
5. The date of the science fair let ________ from memory until my mom reminded me.
6. My mind ________ when I tried to recall my locker combination for the gym.
7. Let us ________ and be friends again after our little disagreement.
8. Advice from his older brother often goes in one ear and ________.
9. Try to ________ the scary movie before you go to sleep tonight.
10. We decided to ________ and work together on the science fair project.
11. I accidentally ________ my lunchbox on the yellow school bus this morning.
12. After the tough soccer game, it is time to ________ and focus on practice.
13. Put your video game controller away because ________, out of mind.
14. The teacher told us to ________ any rumors we heard on the playground.
15. I only have a ________ recollection of visiting that huge museum when I was tiny.

Answer Key

1. slipped
2. went blank
3. let it go
4. lose track
5. slip
6. drew a blank
7. let bygones be bygones
8. out the other
9. put out of your head
10. bury the hatchet
11. left
12. turn the page
13. out of sight
14. dismiss from thought
15. hazy

Conclusion

Learning idioms about forgetting helps you understand stories, poems, and everyday conversations much more clearly. When you know what these colorful phrases mean, you can use them to describe your own thoughts in a super fun way.

Try using a few of these expressions the next time you misplace something or want to talk about starting fresh. Practicing them out loud is a great way to remember them and make your speaking sound awesome.