When I look up unforgettable in a thesaurus, I get words like enduring, remarkable, or exceptional. These all are positive; I just cannot forget such a wondrous thing!
I, however, want a word that means unforgettable because it was so horrible. As in, I cannot forget such a horrible thing that has happened.
Any suggestions?
For some purposes, I like:
indelible: making marks that cannot be removed
It makes me thinks of spills, stains, bad tattoos, burns... things that you want to delete, but can't.
Though I think @Sven-Yargs hit it on the head with haunting.
traumatic may fit, even though the word means basically "causing mental or emotional problems, usually for a long time".
It was a traumatic experience for all of us.
Not all unforgettable events are traumatic but most traumatic events will be unforgettable.
You would be able to get away with seared into my memory or similar variations as a phrase to describe such an event.
The train crash I saw that afternoon was seared into my memory.
The report on teen drug use seared itself into my memory.
I cannot think of any adjectives that would suit your purpose, however.
If you're looking for adjectives, as opposed to phrases, then I think there are three good candidates:
inextirpable: incapable of being destroyed
inexpungible: incapable of being obliterated
inerasable: incapable of being erased
Of course, the implication with these words is that we might, in fact, like to destroy, obliterate, or erase the things they describe. They would be good fits for describing a memory that you would rather not have but can't seem to rid yourself of.
"What has been seen cannot be unseen". Slang.
For citations see: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Citations:what_has_been_seen_cannot_be_unseen
e.g.
At Dachau he was witness to real rather than abstract suffering; what has been seen cannot be unseen, nor can it be rationalized.
Brad Prager, "Suffering and Sympathy in Volker Schlöndorff's Der neunte Tag and Dennis Gansel's NaPolA", in Screening War: Perspectives on German Suffering (eds. Paul Cooke & Marc Silberman), Camden House (2010), ISBN 9781571134370, page 196
Also, although 'unforgettable' by itself has a positive connotation, 'unforgettably' doesn't necessarily. E.g. The incident was was unforgettably traumatic
I like an inescapable memory.
The escape implies a concerted effort to relieve oneself of the memory. I find it's less passive. Requires the 'memory' after unfortunately.
Edit: I realised this was very similar to Rusty Tuba's answer... but I've posted it now.
Memory already implies that the thing is being remembered and not forgotten, so I would prefer a word to describe the type of memory being referenced, while also conveying that it is a memory that is constantly being revisited. So things like
and, my favorite, oppressive memory.
As an adjective, there is never-to-be-forgotten which usually implies that the experience or memory was unpleasant, unlike unforgettable which usually implies a pleasant memory.
Note: It is used as unhyphenated too.
Examples:
Stupid, sometimes tragic, decisions by commanders also impacted the mind with never-to-be-forgotten, nightmarish memories.
[Never Without Heroes: Marine Third Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam by Lawrence C. Vetter, Jr. (2011)]
At length, the never-to-be-forgotten day of the terrible auction arrived, when the 'slaves, horses, and other catde' of Charles Ardinburgh, deceased, were to be put under the hammer, and again change masters.
[The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth (2008)]
There is etched (in/on sb's memory) that can used for unforgettable bad memories. It is mainly used in literature. Similarly there is engraved and stamped but they are more neutral.
if something is etched on your mind or memory, you can still remember it very clearly, sometimes when you would prefer to forget it
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/etched
Examples:
The plane crashed on landing as family and friends watched from the airport lounge while awaiting their loved one's arrival. Those horrible images were forever etched in his memory.
[Softened Moon's Glow: Collective Works (BW) by Don Di Tomasso, Connie L. Valentine - (2013)]
The sudden demise of my younger brother was now permanently etched in my mind. The end of my brother's life created permanent pain into the deep divisions of my mind and heart.
[Survival of the Heart Tragedy of the Mind By Dwight N. Wood (2013)]
How about infamous? A la "a day that will live in infamy!"
In addition to the wonderful words suggested so far, also consider ineradicable:
not able to be eradicated; of root, too deep to remove
From en.wiktionary, eradicate means “(to pull up by the roots): root up, uproot” and “(to completely destroy): annihilate, exterminate, extirpate”. Thus, ineradicable means “not able to be destroyed”.
Note, the Wikisaurus page for destroy includes the verb devastate, which according to en.wiktionary has several senses that all connote major destruction. The word devastating can be used to mean confounding or overwhelming, “as with grief or shock” [www.collinsdictionary], and one might refer to a devastating memory, a devastating experience, an overwhelming experience, etc.
It sounds like a traumatising memory: not merely traumatic, but leaving a permanent mental scar.
A pest is something that will not let you forget it exists.
Edited to add haunting.
That memory will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I believe the word is infamous.
I propose "unignorable" which implies persistence, and suggests undesirability: forgetting can be accidental, but ignoring is deliberate. It's admittedly a somewhat unwieldy word, but I believe it's close to meeting the questioner's need. I also like "indelible": that which we would like to delete but cannot.
Traumatic, horrific, catastrophic, terrifying, tragic...These are all off the top of my head.
I used: www.thesaurus.com to get these:
Haunting, grievous, heinous, scandelous, egregious, and infamous
Flagrant might also work. According to www.dictionary.com it means:
"1. shockingly noticeable or evident; obvious; glaring
2. notorious; scandalous:"
Check out: http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/flagrant
Then I typed in one of the previous words and got other choices.
I think Notorious would fit perfectly in many contexts.
notorious nə(ʊ)ˈtɔːrɪəs/Submit adjective famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed.
The word 'heinous' being synonymous with horrible or horrific is certainly 'reprehensible' to the memory of an innocent person who would witness the act.
How about the word “scarring”?
TFD gives:
v. scarred, scar·ring, scars v.tr.
- To mark with a scar.
- To leave lasting signs of damage on
With the exception of "exceptional", I would say those words can have a negative connotation even though they are typically used in a positive way.
"Enduring" is something that has a long lasting effect.
The training for military was so enduring that it will always be with me
"Remarkable" is something extremely out of the ordinary
I will always remember seeing that remarkable crash
Both of these are typically something that may very well be hard to forget
However, without more context, "horrendous" would be the first thing that comes to mind for me when thinking about something negative that is hard to forget.
Their actions towards those innocent people were so horrendous that I can't imagine someone really doing such a thing.
Checking this thesaurus link "appalling" could fit, as well.
While they aren't synonyms, the meaning they have certainly gives the feeling of something that wouldn't be easily forgettable.
{Something} I'd rather forget.
+1for haunting. That should just be the answer.