I. ˈkänchəs sometimes ˈkȯn- adjective
Etymology: Latin conscius, from com- + -scius (from scire to know) — more at science
1. : knowing secret human thoughts : noting human actions — used of inanimate things as if capable of human perception
cries that fell upon the conscious air
2. : perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation : recognizing as existent, factual, or true:
a. : knowing or perceiving something within oneself or a fact about oneself
conscious of his own deficiencies
conscious of having succeeded
the careful tread of one conscious of his alcoholic load — Thomas Hardy
— formerly used with to and a reflexive pronoun
conscious to himself of being remiss
b. : recognizing as factual or existent something external
Rose was conscious that she was steadily bringing the tiller over — C.S.Forester
I suddenly became conscious that some one was looking at me — Oscar Wilde
— formerly used with to
conscious to a crime
3. obsolete : inwardly aware of guilt : having knowledge of wrongdoing : guilty
4.
a. : present especially to the senses : visible
the conscious grace of a thoroughbred horse
b. : subjectively perceived : personally felt
conscious guilt
5.
a. : having rational power : capable of thought, will, design, or perception
not a mindless force but a conscious 0 one, bent upon our destruction — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall
b. : involving rational power, perception, and awareness : embodying consideration and decision
our conscious actions
all conscious experience has of necessity some degree of imaginative quality — John Dewey
6. : marked by self-consciousness : aware of the scrutiny of others to a point of not appearing natural or spontaneous : affected , mannered
she is artificial … one can feel always the heavily conscious performer — G.J.Nathan
7. : mentally active : fully possessed of one's mental faculties : having emerged from sleep, faint, or stupor : awake
the patient becoming conscious as the anesthesia wears off
8.
a. : marked by full recognition, candid acceptance, or frank espousal of a given role and often by pervasive conviction in filling it
a deliberate and conscious artist with an abiding care for craftsmanship — Times Literary Supplement
a restrained … altogether conscious comedian, an artful creature of merriment — Time
b. : assumed, determined, treated, or executed with awareness, care, purpose, or consideration
a half- conscious effort, like our self-deceptive pretence of jollity at a threadbare joke — Nathaniel Hawthorne
the settlers in Minnesota … had neither leisure nor impulse for a conscious art — American Guide Series: Minnesota
9.
a. : likely to notice, consider, or appraise
a style- conscious buyer
b. : concerned with, interested in, realizing, or pondering significance or potentialities
modern air- conscious businessmen
c. : marked by a strong or compulsive complex of feelings or notions
an extremely class- conscious appeal
Synonyms: see aware
II. noun
( -es )
: consciousness 5