Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to slip one's mind

to slip one's mind

4.4
Forget to do something you planned to do
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : olvidar
  • I meant to call you yesterday, but it completely slipped my mind.

Examples

Synonyms

to forget
vsto slip one's mind
∞ 1.0

Not remember to do something you intended

is the same but highlights an accidental lapse rather than deliberate neglect

Antonyms

to remember
∞ 1.0

To think about something from the past

to recall
∞ 2.4

Remember something from the past

How Forgotten

to forget
∞ 1.0
to slip one's mind
  • Informal
4.4
to overlook
243 2.9
to remember
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

slip one's mind infinitive
slipped one's mind past
slipped one's mind past participle
slipping one's mind present participle
slips one's mind third person singular

Morphology

slip + one + mind

The verb 'slip' combined with 'mind' evokes a simple motion metaphor — something sliding out of one's memory — so a learner who knows 'slip' and 'mind' can plausibly infer the meaning 'forget'. However, this relies on a metaphorical mapping rather than a strictly literal composition, so the relation is only partially predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom slip one's mind gives a simple picture: imagine a small note or thought quietly slip off the edge of your mind like a coin sliding from a table. Because the idea has 'slipped' away and you can't reach it, the phrase means 'to forget'.