awareness
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of awareness
Explanation
Awareness is the state of knowing something, such as the awareness that the sun comes up every morning. The adjective aware gets turned into a noun when the suffix -ness is added, so awareness is the state of being aware, or having knowledge of something. Its roots are Germanic, and come from the Old English wær meaning "wary, cautious." Awareness can be something you notice, want to tell others about, or already know. You could "raise awareness" of a cause, like fighting breast cancer. Yet, your awareness of the baby sleeping next door might prevent you from having band practice in the garage. Smart move.
Vocabulary lists containing awareness
Legend
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Schooled
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Earth Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Major investors including Situational Awareness, a hedge fund run by a former OpenAI researcher, have indicated they’ll buy up to $7 billion shares.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
Awareness is growing, as is the rate of diagnosis - there was a 787% rise in the number of diagnoses between 1998 and 2018.
From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026
Situational Awareness is led by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner and has been known for making well-timed artificial intelligence-related investments.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 6, 2026
Situational Awareness has gained about 270% after fees this year through May and is up more than 1,000% after fees since inception, one of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Awareness returns to Michel’s voice; he is looking up again.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
