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

An MP said the approach was "utterly unhinged and self-destructive," adding: "They're in the bunker shooting everyone who's outside the bunker guarding it. And poor oblivious Keir doesn't even realise he's in the bunker."

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Or that they were seemingly oblivious to the fraud implicit in no-doc loans.

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They also note that their superiors may be oblivious to the parallel conversations that are now a key part of meeting culture.

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They were utterly obliterated by a Blue Jays squad that seemed completely oblivious to the idea that they were here to serve as spectators to the Dodgers’ inevitable coronation.

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His subject is a fertile one too: the gig economy fostering our crushing inequity, but also the desperation of the have-nots and how oblivious the wealthy are about those who made them rich.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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