subconscious

[suhb-kon-shuh s]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR subconscious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond consciousness: the subconscious self.Compare preconscious, unconscious.

imperfectly or not wholly conscious: subconscious motivations.

noun

the totality of mental processes of which the individual is not aware; unreportable mental activities.

Nearby words

Origin of subconscious

First recorded in 1825–35; sub- + conscious

Related forms

sub·con·scious·ly, adverbsub·con·scious·ness, nounnon·sub·con·scious, adjectivenon·sub·con·scious·ly, adverb

non·sub·con·scious·ness, noun

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

Examples from the Web for subconscious

Their motives were the usual mix of the honorable, the base, and the subconscious.
Death of JFK Spawned an Industry That Thrived for Decades|Richard Woodward|November 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The third eye would seem to symbolize a hidden inner knowledge or the subconscious.
‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 for Dummies|Jace Lacob|March 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I knew that on a subconscious level at the writing stage, because of the way the stories went together.
‘Mad Men’: Matthew Weiner & Christina Hendricks on ‘The Other Woman,’ Part 1|Jace Lacob|August 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“The effect is probably very subtle,” admits Pincott, but she adds that there are subconscious behavioral factors at work as well.
Should You Quit the Pill?|Lizzie Crocker|November 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST

There is much meaning to be gleaned, too, from your own subconscious motivations, Freudian slip-ups, and dreams.
Horoscopes: The Week of March 27|Starsky + Cox|March 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
She wanted to run, and yet some subconscious idea restrained her.
The Camp Fire Girls in the Outside World|Margaret Vandercook
It was a chance remark made by an eminent man that aroused my subconscious literary personality to irresistible action.
A Mind That Found Itself|Clifford Whittingham Beers
All memory of another life was sunk deep into the subconscious.
The Best Short Stories of 1915|Various
My impressions were all subconscious, but registered exactly.
The High Heart|Basil King
For most of us the fear of death is a subconscious rather than an active fear.
The Conquest of Fear|Basil King

British Dictionary definitions for subconscious

subconscious

adjective

acting or existing without one's awarenesssubconscious motive

noun

psychoanal that part of the mind which is on the fringe of consciousness and contains material of which it is possible to become aware by redirecting attentionCompare preconscious (def. 2), unconscious (def. 5)

Derived Formssubconsciously, adverbsubconsciousness, noun

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 subconscious

subconscious

adj.

1823, "not wholly conscious" (implied in subconsciously), from sub- + conscious. First attested in De Quincey. The noun, in the psychological sense, is attested from 1886; earlier subconsciousness (1874).

Medicine definitions for subconscious

subconscious

[sŭb-kŏn′shəs]

adj.

Not wholly conscious; partially or imperfectly conscious.

n.

The part of the mind below the level of conscious perception.

Related formssub•con′scious•ly adv.

subconscious

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of subconscious

Examples from the Web for subconscious

subconscious

adjective

noun

subconscious

subconscious

adj.

n.