unconscious bias
Americannoun
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deep, general patterns and shortcuts of cognitive processing that a person is unaware of and that underlie implicit bias.
Etymology
Origin of unconscious bias
First recorded in 1780–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I also have questions for you about conscious or unconscious bias: What actual evidence do you have that this woman is trying to seduce your father?
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 1, 2025
The officer confirmed she had completed equality training, including on unconscious bias and discriminatory stereotypes, and said she was aware of stereotypes relating to black people.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2025
Websites for Meta’s unconscious bias training and TechPrep, a resource hub for underrepresented people and their parents to learn about computer science, are no longer online.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2025
Like the previous study, it used a technique to hide the result from the scientists until the end, mitigating any unconscious bias.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024
This is quite clearly the kind of unconscious bias that the IAT picks up on.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.