unconscious

American  

[uhn-kon-shuhs] / ʌnˈkɒn ʃəs /

adjective

1. not conscious; without awareness, sensation, or cognition.

2. temporarily devoid of consciousness.

3. not perceived at the level of awareness; occurring below the level of conscious thought.

   an unconscious impulse.

4. not consciously realized, planned, or done; without conscious volition or intent.

   an unconscious social slight.

5. not endowed with mental faculties.

   the unconscious stones.

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noun

1. Psychoanalysis. the unconscious, the part of the mind containing psychic material that is only rarely accessible to awareness but that has a pronounced influence on behavior.

unconscious British  

/ ʌnˈkɒnʃəs /

adjective

1. lacking normal sensory awareness of the environment; insensible

2. not aware of one's actions, behaviour, etc

   unconscious of his bad manners

3. characterized by lack of awareness or intention

   an unconscious blunder

4. coming from or produced by the unconscious

   unconscious resentment

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noun

1. psychoanal the part of the mind containing instincts, impulses, images, and ideas that are not available for direct examination See also collective unconscious Compare subconscious preconscious

unconscious Cultural  

1. The part of the psyche lying far below consciousness and not easily raised into consciousness. In Freudian psychology, the unconscious cannot be directly observed with the conscious mind, but it has its own processes and deeply affects conscious thought.

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Other Word Forms

• quasi-unconscious
  adjective
• self-unconscious
  adjective
• unconsciously
  adverb
• unconsciousness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of unconscious

First recorded in 1705–15; 1915–20 unconscious for def. 6; un- ¹ + conscious

Explanation

When you're unconscious you're passed out or asleep. Anything going on in the body that we're not aware of can also be called unconscious. Being unconscious can be very nice, especially when you're in the middle of a deep sleep. But if you're unconscious because you fainted or got hit in the head, that's not so good. Unconscious people aren't aware of what's going on, and they can't talk or do things — except maybe for sleepwalking and sleeptalking. There are also unconscious thoughts and desires: things going on in the mind that you don't know about.

Example Sentences

Unconscious transferences are independent from conscious values or even realistic attributes—when Merkel was nicknamed Mutti, she was not actually a mother, nor was she even traditionally “maternal.”

From Slate • Aug. 18, 2024

Unconscious proprioceptive signals run from the spinal cord to the cerebellum, the brain region that coordinates muscle contraction, rather than to the thalamus, like most other sensory information.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

We eventually learn that Bix went on to invent a program with the ironic name Own Your Unconscious, which completely reshaped human culture.

From Washington Post • Mar. 29, 2022

Unconscious psychological defenses, too, can contribute to our altered sense of time.

From Salon • Jan. 3, 2022

Unconscious, he dreamed of the colorful at.oow blanket.

From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen

Related Words

• innate
• instinctive
• latent
• lost
• repressed
• subliminal
• suppressed