unconsciously

[uhn-kon-shuhs-lee]

adverb

1. unintentionally and without realizing what one is doing.

   Unconsciously, almost in spite of herself, she sighed.

2. at a level below that of conscious thought.

   Children are unconsciously influenced by the appearance and personalities of their parents to choose partners who resemble them.

3. without any awareness, sensation, or cognition at all.

   As her mind drifted into a cloud of darkness and she lost all feeling, her body unconsciously fought the force of gravity pushing against it.

Other Word Forms

• quasi-unconsciously adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unconsciously¹

unconscious ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

It has become a habit for many people over the last decade, consciously and even unconsciously.

Read more on Salon

Sydney plopped down in the middle of the room, unconsciously posing, as if he were Cary Grant.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Nothing that’s happened on any of the network’s shows in the last decade has come close to matching the unconsciously malevolent nonsense of this one-off series.

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While I'm falling asleep, I go through it unconsciously.

Read more on BBC

He also decided to write a book about a different Amazonian tribe — “Farewell to Eden,” published in 1965 — a move that seemed, perhaps unconsciously, like a bid to rival his brother’s intellectual terrain.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• unintentionally 
• unknowingly www.thesaurus.com
• unwittingly