oblivious

[uh-bliv-ee-uhs]

adjective

1. unmindful; unconscious; unaware (usually followed by of orto ).

   She was oblivious of his admiration.

2. forgetful; without remembrance or memory.

   oblivious of my former failure.

3. Archaic.,  inducing forgetfulness.

oblivious

/ əˈblɪvɪəs /

adjective

1. unaware or forgetful

Usage

It was formerly considered incorrect to use oblivious to mean unaware , but this use is now acceptable

Other Word Forms

• obliviously adverb
• obliviousness noun
• self-oblivious adjective
• semioblivious adjective
• semiobliviously adverb
• unoblivious adjective
• unobliviously adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of oblivious¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin oblīviōsus “forgetful,” equivalent to oblīvī(scī) “to forget” + -ōsus -ous ( def. )

Synonym Study

See absent-minded.

Example Sentences

When she was about 5, she disappeared for hours to a dark henhouse to see how chickens laid eggs, so absorbed that she was oblivious to her family’s frantic search for her.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They'll have plenty of time to perfect it next year, though, when the whole clan set off on tour together, apparently oblivious to the fact that most family road trips end in disaster.

Read more on BBC

He locked himself in a bathroom and, when he emerged, was "completely naked and oblivious" to the fact he had no clothes on, prosecution barrister Natasha Lake said.

Read more on BBC

"We're not oblivious to the scale of the problem. We were aware of it before the summer, but the last two weeks have made it more difficult," is how one senior figure put it.

Read more on BBC

When the oblivious owner of the vehicle comes out, Nuñez is the one to deliver the tragic news.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blind 
• deaf 
• inattentive 
• unconcerned 
• unfamiliar 
• uninformed