Pronunciation: - ' kän(t)-sh ə s
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1680
1 a : conscious of one's own acts or states as belonging to or originating in oneself : aware of oneself as an individual b : intensely aware of oneself : CONSCIOUS <a rising and self-conscious social class> also : produced or done with such awareness < self-conscious art>
2 : uncomfortably conscious of oneself as an object of the observation of others : ILL AT EASE
– self-con · scious · ly adverb
– self-con · scious · ness noun