amnesia

American  

[am-nee-zhuh] / æmˈni ʒə /

noun

1. loss of a large block of interrelated memories; complete or partial loss of memory caused by brain injury, shock, etc.

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amnesia British  

/ æmˈniːzɪˌæk, æmˈniːsɪk, æmˈniːzjə, -ʒjə, -zɪə, -zɪk /

noun

1. a defect in memory, esp one resulting from pathological cause, such as brain damage or hysteria

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amnesia Scientific  

/ ăm-nē′zhə /

1. Partial or total loss of memory, usually caused by brain injury or shock.

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amnesia Cultural  

1. A loss of memory, especially one brought on by some distressing or shocking experience.

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Discover More

A common variant is selective amnesia; the term is applied to public officials who, when questioned about alleged wrongdoing, profess that they cannot remember.

Other Word Forms

• amnesiac adjective
• amnestic adjective

Etymology

Origin of amnesia

1780–90; < New Latin < Greek amnēsía, variant of amnēstía oblivion; perhaps learnedly formed from mnē-, stem of mimnḗskesthai to remember ( cf. mnemonic) + -s- + -ia -ia. See amnesty

Explanation

When you have amnesia you can't remember what happened to you in the past. Amnesia is a total or partial memory loss. Some causes of amnesia are brain injury, disease, drug or alcohol abuse, and the deterioration of the brain associated with old age or dementia. With amnesia, memory can be regained, or it can be lost forever. It can be complete, encompassing everything you ever knew, or it can be specific to a time such as the hours leading up to an accident or trauma. If you forget the meaning of a word, it's not amnesia, that's just the way the mind works sometimes.

Example Sentences

He claimed at the tribunal in August that he had suffered from anxiety and depression, while a union representative said he "had suffered from a recognised condition that day, known as transient global amnesia".

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026

In 2023, he appeared on “The Masked Singer” as “The Gnome” and guested for a four-episode run on “Days of Our Lives” as a man with amnesia.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025

Another generation called that the “greater fool theory,” but rising equity prices also power an amnesia machine.

From Barron's • Dec. 10, 2025

A World War I soldier with post-traumatic amnesia is identified as the missing husband of a Belgian woman in this intimate epic by the Dutch novelist Anjet Daanje.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025

Many of its most ardent supporters, having developed a convenient collective amnesia about their roles in encouraging the German eugenicists, renounced the movement altogether.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee