Meaning & use
distant memory
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Meaning
phrasecountable
something that happened long ago and is now hard to remember clearly
Grammar: Countable: use 'a' or make it plural. Often after 'be' or 'become': It is a distant memory.
Patterns
- be a distant memory
- become a distant memory
- a distant memory of something
The pain of the injury is now a distant memory.
For many adults, their first day of school is only a distant memory.
That summer feels like a distant memory after everything that has changed.
Common combinations
- become a distant memory
- The busy city center has become a distant memory since we moved to the countryside.
- just a distant memory
- The old factory is just a distant memory now.
- fade into a distant memory
- Without photos, the trip slowly faded into a distant memory.
Synonyms and how they differ
- faint memory
- Use for something you remember only slightly; 'distant memory' stresses the long passage of time more than the weakness of the memory.
- blur
- A blur is something you cannot remember clearly, often because it happened fast; it does not necessarily mean it was long ago.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: distant memory or distant relative?
distant memory vs distant relative
A distant relative is a family member who is not closely related. A distant memory is about time and remembering, not family.
Practice
After ten years, the accident was ______.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a phrase meaning something from long ago that is now hard to remember, so 'a distant memory' fits. 'A distinct memory' means a clear memory, which is the opposite idea. 'A distant relative' is about family, and 'a distant place' is about location, not memory.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “distant memory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.