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

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

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

See Examples For:

unconscious

The department was unable to confirm whether the person was in fact unconscious when they arrived at the scene or whether the person lost consciousness on the roller coaster.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Yet our unconscious minds know the end is coming.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

McConnell was hospitalized in mid-June after being found unconscious in his D.C. home.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

The crew members of one aircraft were rescued alive, while the second crew were recovered unconscious and later pronounced dead.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

That does not mean that there were no reasons, only that they were unconscious ones.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Related Words

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