conscious

[ kon-shuhs ]
See synonyms for: consciousconsciously on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.

  2. fully aware of or sensitive to something (often followed by of): conscious of one's own faults; He wasn't conscious of the gossip about his past.

  1. having the mental faculties fully active: He was conscious during the operation.

  2. known to oneself; felt: conscious guilt.

  3. aware of what one is doing: a conscious liar.

  4. aware of oneself; self-conscious.

  5. deliberate; intentional: a conscious insult; a conscious effort.

  6. acutely aware of or concerned about: money-conscious; a diet-conscious society.

  7. Obsolete. inwardly sensible of wrongdoing.

noun
  1. the conscious, Psychoanalysis. the part of the mind comprising psychic material of which the individual is aware.

Origin of conscious

1
First recorded in1625–35; from Latin conscius “sharing knowledge with,” equivalent to con- con- + sci- (stem of scīre “to know”; see science) + -us -ous; cf. nice

synonym study For conscious

2. Conscious, aware, cognizant refer to an individual sense of recognition of something within or without oneself. Conscious implies to be awake or awakened to an inner realization of a fact, a truth, a condition, etc.: to be conscious of an extreme weariness. Aware lays the emphasis on sense perceptions insofar as they are the object of conscious recognition: He was aware of the odor of tobacco. Cognizant lays the emphasis on an outer recognition more on the level of reason and knowledge than on the sensory level alone: He was cognizant of their drawbacks.

Other words for conscious

Other words from conscious

  • con·scious·ly, adverb
  • half-con·scious, adjective
  • half-con·scious·ness, noun
  • non·con·scious, adjective
  • non·con·scious·ness, noun
  • o·ver·con·scious, adjective
  • o·ver·con·scious·ness, noun
  • qua·si-con·scious, adjective

Words that may be confused with conscious

Words Nearby conscious

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use conscious in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for conscious

conscious

/ (ˈkɒnʃəs) /


adjective
    • alert and awake; not sleeping or comatose

    • aware of one's surroundings, one's own thoughts and motivations, etc

    • aware of and giving value or emphasis to a particular fact or phenomenon: I am conscious of your great kindness to me

    • (in combination): clothes-conscious

  1. done with full awareness; deliberate: a conscious effort; conscious rudeness

    • denoting or relating to a part of the human mind that is aware of a person's self, environment, and mental activity and that to a certain extent determines his choices of action

    • (as noun): the conscious is only a small part of the mind

Origin of conscious

1
C17: from Latin conscius sharing knowledge, from com- with + scīre to know

Derived forms of conscious

  • consciously, adverb
  • consciousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012