conscious

[kon-shuhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conscious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.

fully aware of or sensitive to something (often followed by of): conscious of one's own faults; He wasn't conscious of the gossip about his past.

having the mental faculties fully active: He was conscious during the operation.

known to oneself; felt: conscious guilt.

aware of what one is doing: a conscious liar.

aware of oneself; self-conscious.

deliberate; intentional: a conscious insult; a conscious effort.

acutely aware of or concerned about: money-conscious; a diet-conscious society.

Obsolete. inwardly sensible of wrongdoing.

noun

the conscious, Psychoanalysis. the part of the mind comprising psychic material of which the individual is aware.

Origin of conscious

1625–35; < Latin conscius sharing knowledge with, equivalent to con- con- + sci- (stem of scīre to know; see science) + -us -ous; cf. nice

Related formscon·scious·ly, adverbhalf-con·scious, adjectivehalf-con·scious·ly, adverbhalf-con·scious·ness, nounnon·con·scious, adjectivenon·con·scious·ly, adverbnon·con·scious·ness, nouno·ver·con·scious, adjectiveo·ver·con·scious·ly, adverbo·ver·con·scious·ness, nounqua·si-con·scious, adjectivequa·si-con·scious·ly, adverb

Can be confusedconscience conscious

Synonyms for conscious

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conscious ON THESAURUS.COM

2. knowing, percipient.

Synonym study

2. Conscious, aware, cognizant refer to an individual sense of recognition of something within or without oneself. Conscious implies to be awake or awakened to an inner realization of a fact, a truth, a condition, etc.: to be conscious of an extreme weariness. Aware lays the emphasis on sense perceptions insofar as they are the object of conscious recognition: He was aware of the odor of tobacco. Cognizant lays the emphasis on an outer recognition more on the level of reason and knowledge than on the sensory level alone: He was cognizant of their drawbacks.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for conscious

sensible, watchful, sure, mindful, certain, informed, aware, keen, cognizant, responsive, vigilant, attentive, premeditated, deliberate, calculated, responsible, rational, reflective, self-conscious, acquainted

Examples from the Web for conscious

Contemporary Examples of conscious

To his credit, Huckabee is conscious of the fact that he will need a cluster of deep-pocketed patrons and bundlers.
Can Huckabee Convert the GOP’s Moneymen?
Lloyd Green
January 4, 2015
Can a seven year old—let alone a two year old—really make the conscious calculations necessary to create “true” works of art?
The Tiniest Jackson Pollock
Justin Jones
November 5, 2014
And, as noted with victim blaming, this undermines men as thinking, rational, conscious beings.
Hey, Creeps, ‘Compliments’ Are Harassment, Too
Tauriq Moosa
November 5, 2014
And at the time he wrote that letter, Derek was also conscious of his own mortality.
The Queer Genius of Film Director Derek Jarman
Tim Teeman
November 1, 2014
This conscious uncoupling was a big deal because WTF is that even.
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Martin Consciously Couple
Kevin Fallon
August 15, 2014

Historical Examples of conscious

And yet all the while we have been conscious that we were not part of it.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
The moment a man begins to be conscious of an audience he is artistically damned.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
Unless we were conscious of the energies such a call would not reach us.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
There speaks the sophisticated and conscious literary technician!
The Dramatic Values in Plautus
Wilton Wallace Blancke
He was conscious of a feeling of failure when he left her at last.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for conscious

conscious

adjective

alert and awake; not sleeping or comatose
aware of one's surroundings, one's own thoughts and motivations, etc

aware of and giving value or emphasis to a particular fact or phenomenonI am conscious of your great kindness to me
(in combination)clothes-conscious

done with full awareness; deliberatea conscious effort; conscious rudeness

denoting or relating to a part of the human mind that is aware of a person's self, environment, and mental activity and that to a certain extent determines his choices of action
(as noun)the conscious is only a small part of the mind

Compare unconscious

Derived Formsconsciously, adverbconsciousness, noun

Word Origin for conscious

C17: from Latin conscius sharing knowledge, from com- with + scīre to know

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for conscious

adj.

c.1600, "knowing, privy to," from Latin conscius "knowing, aware," from conscire (see conscience); probably a loan-translation of Greek syneidos. A word adopted from the Latin poets and much mocked at first. Sense of "active and awake" is from 1837.

conscious in Medicine

conscious

[kŏn′shəs]

adj.

Having an awareness of one's environment and one's own existence, sensations, and thoughts.

Intentionally conceived or done; deliberate.

n.

In psychoanalysis, the component of waking awareness perceptible by a person at any given instant.

Related formscon′scious•ly adv.