unconscious

American  

[uhn-kon-shuhs] / ʌnˈkɒn ʃəs /

adjective

1. not conscious; without awareness, sensation, or cognition.

2. temporarily devoid of consciousness.

3. not perceived at the level of awareness; occurring below the level of conscious thought.

   an unconscious impulse.

4. not consciously realized, planned, or done; without conscious volition or intent.

   an unconscious social slight.

5. not endowed with mental faculties.

   the unconscious stones.

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noun

1. Psychoanalysis. the unconscious, the part of the mind containing psychic material that is only rarely accessible to awareness but that has a pronounced influence on behavior.

unconscious British  

/ ʌnˈkɒnʃəs /

adjective

1. lacking normal sensory awareness of the environment; insensible

2. not aware of one's actions, behaviour, etc

   unconscious of his bad manners

3. characterized by lack of awareness or intention

   an unconscious blunder

4. coming from or produced by the unconscious

   unconscious resentment

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noun

1. psychoanal the part of the mind containing instincts, impulses, images, and ideas that are not available for direct examination See also collective unconscious Compare subconscious preconscious

unconscious Cultural  

1. The part of the psyche lying far below consciousness and not easily raised into consciousness. In Freudian psychology, the unconscious cannot be directly observed with the conscious mind, but it has its own processes and deeply affects conscious thought.

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Other Word Forms

• quasi-unconscious adjective
• self-unconscious adjective
• unconsciously adverb
• unconsciousness noun

Etymology

Origin of unconscious

First recorded in 1705–15; 1915–20 unconscious for def. 6; un- ¹ + conscious

Example Sentences

Their case had been scuppered by the so-called "30 second rule", a false conclusion adopted by the court presuming that every person who was killed in the disaster had been unconscious within 30 seconds.

From BBC

Hypocrisy is the more-or-less conscious habit of saying one thing and doing another; projection is the mostly unconscious process of displacing one’s own unacceptable intentions onto other people’s presumed desires.

From Salon

Johnson, 55, known in his playing days as “Big Kev,” was found dead after sheriff’s deputies on Jan. 21 got a call of an unconscious man at a homeless encampment where he had been living.

From Los Angeles Times

But when we finally got into the ward, Grandpa Dodzi was hooked up to tubes and wires, unmoving and unconscious.

From Literature

Whether that larger thing is God or the Muse or your own unconscious is less important creating what he calls “a place where awareness can soften, presence can arise, and meaningful connections can grow.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• innate
• instinctive
• latent
• lost
• repressed
• subliminal
• suppressed