awareness
Americannoun
-
awareness
plural
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
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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.
Beneath the novelty of having a humanoid robot in my apartment was the awareness that the robot’s every move was being streamed directly to teleoperators sitting in Tau’s headquarters a few miles away.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Beth Dobbin is so determined to raise awareness of the illness that has decimated her life that she is speaking out, despite knowing it could trigger a brutal deterioration in her health.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Finding evidence of it during general anesthesia suggests that at least some of the underlying neural processes can operate independently of conscious awareness.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
The virtual assistant has personal context understanding and onscreen awareness, Apple says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Anyone who came of age in the Soviet Union during the 1930s was not going to let class awareness affect her commitment to the urgent demands of war.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
