conscious
Americanadjective
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aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.
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fully aware of or sensitive to something (often followed byof ).
conscious of one's own faults; He wasn't conscious of the gossip about his past.
- Synonyms:
- percipient, knowing
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having the mental faculties fully active.
He was conscious during the operation.
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known to oneself; felt.
conscious guilt.
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aware of what one is doing.
a conscious liar.
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aware of oneself; self-conscious.
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deliberate; intentional.
a conscious insult; a conscious effort.
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acutely aware of or concerned about.
money-conscious; a diet-conscious society.
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Obsolete. inwardly sensible of wrongdoing.
noun
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Psychoanalysis. the conscious, the part of the mind comprising psychic material of which the individual is aware.
adjective
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alert and awake; not sleeping or comatose
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aware of one's surroundings, one's own thoughts and motivations, etc
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aware of and giving value or emphasis to a particular fact or phenomenon
I am conscious of your great kindness to me
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( in combination )
clothes-conscious
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done with full awareness; deliberate
a conscious effort
conscious rudeness
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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
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( as noun )
the conscious is only a small part of the mind
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Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- consciously adverb
- consciousness noun
- half-conscious adjective
- half-consciousness noun
- nonconscious adjective
- nonconsciousness noun
- overconscious adjective
- overconsciousness noun
- quasi-conscious adjective
Etymology
Origin of conscious
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin conscius “sharing knowledge with,” equivalent to con- con- + sci- (stem of scīre “to know”; science ) + -us -ous; nice
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.
"It's an exciting step toward understanding how conscious experience and physical health are intertwined, and how we might harness that connection to promote well-being in new ways."
From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026
"It's more about being really conscious about what we're showing them, and if we are we watching something with them, we are watching it as a family."
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
The point: Dollar General appears ready to generate sales and earnings that satisfy or surpass expectations, even if consumer spending were to slow under the premise that shoppers would become more bargain conscious.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
“For better or for worse, ‘The Complex’ is my truest expression of myself as an artist yet because I wasn’t conscious of influences,” Mahajan says on a Zoom call from his home in Providence, R.I.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
As Pauline explained it, however, her intuitive feelings about how to shape her shots became more conscious.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.