# [uncountable, singular] knowing something; knowing that something exists and is important.

• awareness of something: an awareness of the importance of eating a healthy diet

• There was an almost complete lack of awareness of the issues involved.

• to raise/heighten/increase public awareness of something

• a greater/a growing/an increasing awareness of something

• a marketing campaign to increase brand awareness

• awareness that… There seems to be a general awareness that this is not the solution.

# [uncountable] interest in and concern about a particular situation or area of interest.

• environmental awareness

• Energy Awareness Week

• the emergence of a new social awareness among young people

• awareness about something The group is trying to raise public awareness about homelessness.

# [uncountable] ​knowledge and understanding of your own character.

• Counselling can help to achieve greater self-awareness.

# [uncountable] ​professional advice about a problem.

• The couple decided to go for relationship counselling.

• Some groups offer bereavement counselling.

• a student counselling service

• Counselling can help to achieve greater self-awareness.

# used to say that people may experience a particular thing in different ways.

• Highly recommend the company! Of course, YMMV.

• The stories are extensive and extraordinary, with something for everyone. But I haven’t really looked at them in quite a few years so who knows. As always, YMMV.

# in a way that involves strong or deep feelings or awareness.

SYNONYM acutely;

• We were keenly aware of the danger.

• They felt the pressure keenly.

# in a way that involves quick understanding.

• The dogs are keenly intelligent.

# in a way that shows you are enthusiastic or want something very much.

• SYNONYM eagerly;

• They waited keenly to hear her speak.

# [uncountable] (psychology) ​the process by which knowledge and understanding is developed in the mind.

• child studies centring on theories of cognition

• He has done extensive research into theories of human cognition.

• The connections between cognition and language seem to be similar in all cultures.

# [usually before noun] connected with mental processes of understanding

• a child’s cognitive development

• cognitive psychology

• They are studying the links between cognitive and linguistic development in young children.

• This is both a cognitive and an emotional process.

# [uncountable] (psychology) ​the state of having thoughts that are not consistent, especially relating to beliefs, behaviour and attitudes.

• The cognitive dissonance in these arguments caused him to re-evaluate his politics.

• Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort that we feel when our deeply held beliefs do not match what is evident in reality.

# [uncountable] (abbreviation CBT) ​a type of psychotherapy in which you are encouraged to change negative ways of thinking about yourself and the world in order to change behaviour patterns or treat conditions such as depression.

# (British English also cognisance) [uncountable] (formal) ​knowledge or understanding of something.

# take cognizance of something (idiom): ​(law) to understand or consider something; to take notice of something.

• In the light of the new evidence that the court can now take cognizance of, the case is dropped.

# [not before noun] (formal) ​having knowledge or understanding of something.

• cognizant of the importance of the case.

# [plural] the cognoscenti (from Italian, formal) ​people with a lot of knowledge about a particular subject.

# [countable, uncountable] the part of your mind that tells you whether your actions are right or wrong

• to have a clear/guilty conscience (= to feel that you have done right/wrong)

• This is a matter of individual conscience (= everyone must make their own judgement about it).

• He won't let it trouble his conscience.

# taking care to do things carefully and correctly.

• a conscientious student/teacher/worker

• He was thorough and conscientious, rather than brilliant.

• She was a popular and conscientious teacher.

# ​in a careful and correct way.

• She performed all her duties conscientiously.

# feeling guilty about something you have done or failed to do. 

# [usually before noun] ​connected with feelings that influence your behaviour even though you are not aware of them.

• subconscious desires

• the subconscious mind

• Many advertisements work at a subconscious level.

# in a state like sleep because of an injury or illness, and not able to use your senses.

• They found him lying unconscious on the floor.

• She was knocked unconscious.

• She fell unconscious after breathing in the gas.

• It was a powerful sedative that would render them unconscious within minutes.

# (of feelings, thoughts, etc.) existing or happening without you realizing or being aware; not deliberate.

• unconscious desires

• Freud sought to unlock the workings of the unconscious mind.

• the danger of unconscious bias

• The brochure is full of unconscious humour.

• COMPARE subconscious;

# unconscious of somebody/something: not aware of somebody/something; not noticing something; not conscious.

• SYNONYM oblivious;

• She is unconscious of the effect she has on people.

• He was quite unconscious of the danger.

• Parents are often quite unconscious of the ways in which they influence their children.

• He made his way down the street, unconscious of the people, cars and buildings around him.

# the unconscious [singular] (psychology) the part of a person’s mind with thoughts, feelings, etc. that they are not aware of and cannot control but that can sometimes be understood by studying their behaviour or dreams.

• COMPARE subconscious;

# [usually before noun] (formal) ​(of an action, etc.) so bad, immoral, etc. that it should make you feel ashamed.

• It would be unconscionable for her to keep the money.

# (often humorous) too great, large, long, etc.

SYNONYM excessive;

• You take an unconscionable amount of time getting dressed!

# [uncountable] ​a state like sleep caused by injury or illness, when you are unable to use your senses.

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness.

# without being aware.

• Perhaps, unconsciously, I've done something to offend her.

• OPPOSITE consciously;

# in a way that shows that you are aware of something or noticing something.

• Sound has more profound effects on us than we consciously realize.

• OPPOSITE unconsciously;

• SEE ALSO self-consciously;

# in a way that is deliberate or careful.

• Consciously or unconsciously, you made a choice.

• OPPOSITE unconsciously;

• COMPARE subconsciously;

# [uncountable] ​an unfair belief about a group of people that you are not aware of and that affects your behaviour and decisions.

SYNONYM implicit bias;

• Removing unconscious bias in the recruitment process is an important way of improving workforce diversity.

• They recognize the need for unconscious bias training as a starting point.

# [singular] (psychology) ​the part of the unconscious mind that is thought to be shared with other humans because it is passed from generation to generation.

# [uncountable] the state of being able to use your senses and mental powers to understand what is happening.

• I can't remember any more - I must have lost consciousness.

• She did not regain consciousness and died the next day.

# the state of being aware of something.

• SYNONYM awareness;

• his consciousness of the challenge facing him

• class-consciousness (= consciousness of different classes in society)

# the ideas and opinions of a person or group.

• her newly developed political consciousness

• issues affecting the popular consciousness of the time

# [uncountable] ​self-consciousness about something the fact of being nervous or embarrassed about your appearance or what other people think of you.

• women's self-consciousness about physical appearance.

# self-consciousness about something (often disapproving) actions or an attitude that show you are aware of the effect that is being produced.

• She plays the role without self-consciousness about the importance of her performance.

# [uncountable] ​the process of making people aware of important social and political issues.

• a consciousness-raising group

# [uncountable] ​a continuous flow of ideas, thoughts, and feelings, as they are experienced by a person; a style of writing that expresses this without using the usual methods of description and conversation.

• Virginia Woolf’s use of stream of consciousness in her novel ‘Mrs Dalloway’

• the stream-of-consciousness technique in modern literature

# [uncountable] ​the fact of being very aware of belonging to a particular social class and of the differences between social classes.

# very aware of belonging to a particular social class and of the differences between social classes.

# [countable] a particular attitude towards something; a way of thinking about something.

SYNONYM viewpoint;

• a global perspective

• A historical perspective may help us understand the issue.

• Recent events seem less serious when put into an international perspective.

• The aim is to offer a fresh perspective.

• from a… perspective: Try to see the issue from a different perspective.

• from the perspective of somebody/something: a report that looks at the education system from the perspective of deaf people

• perspective on something: The exhibition provides us with a unique perspective on her work.

# [uncountable] the ability to think about problems and decisions in a reasonable way without making them seem worse or more important than they really are.

• She was aware that she was losing all sense of perspective.

• Try to keep these issues in perspective.

• Talking to others can often help to put your own problems into perspective.

• It is important not to let things get out of perspective.

# [countable] (formal) a view, especially one in which you can see far into the distance.

• a perspective of the whole valley.

#

#