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Meaning & use

amnesia

noun·Academicmedical

Last updated

UK/æmˈniːziə/
US/æmˈniːʒə/

Meanings

  1. noununcountablemedical

    A medical condition in which a person loses part or all of their memory, often after a head injury, illness, or shock.

    Grammar: Usually uncountable: he suffered amnesia, not an amnesia.

    Patterns

    • suffer from amnesia
    • have amnesia

    After the crash, he had amnesia and could not recall his name.

    The patient's amnesia lasted for several days.

    Films often show amnesia as sudden and total.

  2. noununcountablefigurative

    A collective failure or refusal to remember something that matters, such as past events or mistakes.

    Grammar: Figurative use, often with a modifier: collective amnesia.

    Patterns

    • amnesia about something
    • collective amnesia

    The country seems to have collective amnesia about its colonial past.

    Political amnesia lets leaders repeat old mistakes.

    There is a kind of corporate amnesia after each reorganization.

Common combinations

suffer from amnesia
The hiker suffered from amnesia after a fall.
temporary amnesia
Doctors said the amnesia was only temporary.
total amnesia
The character in the novel wakes with total amnesia.
collective amnesia
Collective amnesia let the problem return.
selective amnesia
He seems to have selective amnesia about his promises.
amnesia patient
The amnesia patient slowly regained his memories.

Synonyms and how they differ

memory loss
Memory loss is the plain everyday phrase and can mean mild forgetfulness, while amnesia is the medical term for a more serious condition.
forgetfulness
Forgetfulness is a habit of forgetting small things and is not a medical condition.
blackout
A blackout is a short gap in memory, often from alcohol, rather than a lasting condition.
oblivion
Oblivion means being forgotten or unaware, and it describes a state rather than an illness.

Opposites

memoryrecall

Word family

amnesiac noun
a person who has amnesia
amnesic adjective
relating to or affected by amnesia
amnestic adjective
causing amnesia, as a drug might
amnesty noun
an official pardon; it shares a Greek root meaning forgetting

Commonly confused: amnesia or amnesty?

amnesia vs amnesty

Amnesty is a pardon given to people who have broken a law, though amnesia is memory loss.

Practice

A person who cannot remember who they are after hitting their head most likely has ___.

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