sudden amnesia
- noun
- /ˈsʌdən æmˈniːʒə/
- Specialized
:
amnesia súbita
- After the accident, she experienced sudden amnesia, unable to recall events from the last few hours.
Examples
-
I have sudden amnesia.
Blog text (4) -
I took to it as though it were my mother tongue that I had mysteriously forgotten, as through a sudden amnesia—the kind that used to affect people on daytime radio serials—and was reclaiming it with remarkable speed.
Academic text (1998) -
His sudden amnesia left him confused, with no memory of where he parked his car.
-
The doctor explained that sudden amnesia can occur due to stress or trauma, causing temporary memory loss.
Synonyms
93
6.7
A loss of memory often after injury, illness, or trauma
40
3.4
A problem when a person cannot remember information or past experiences
38
6.0
A short time when a person becomes unconscious or cannot remember things
1
8.6
A sudden short time when a person loses memory and feels confused for several hours
Antonyms
How Severe
- Specialized
1
8.6
- Specialized
- Specialized
93
6.7
11
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'sudden' (happening without warning) with 'amnesia' (loss of memory), so the meaning 'an unexpected loss of memory' is directly and transparently derivable from the constituents. This adjective+noun composition follows a common and cross-linguistic pattern, making it understandable to a B1 learner who already knows both words.
Etymology
Sudden amnesia puts sudden (quick, unexpected) together with amnesia ('loss of memory'), creating a simple image of the mind's lights being switched off all at once; that's why it means a quick, unexpected loss of memory.