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unconscious. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
unconscious, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
unconscious in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
un- + conscious
Pronunciation
Adjective
unconscious (comparative more unconscious, superlative most unconscious)
- Not awake; having no awareness.
- Synonyms: insentient, oblivious, out of it, out on one's feet, unaware, down for the count, lost to the world
After the anesthetist administered the general anesthetic the patient was unconscious.
- (psychology) Without directed thought or awareness.
- Synonym: (dated) subconscious
My sudden fright was an unconscious response.
1884, Margaret Oliphant, The Wizard's Son:It was intolerable, he felt, to sit and eat in presence of that silent figure partly turned away from him, jotting down the different amounts on a bit of paper, and absorbed in that occupation as if unconscious of his presence.
2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 49:Reshaping [of British Railways] was far from perfect. It was tainted by statistical overreach, the unconscious biases of its author, and by the political demands being placed upon the BRB by government.
- (sports) engaged in skilled performance without conscious control.
- Synonyms: in the zone, on a roll
1998, Charles Rosen, The Cockroach Basketball League, page 144:Sam is unconscious, filling it, drilling it from every conceivable angle. Lem is awful and Cooper seems confused. Josh shoots too often.
1999, Joseph Leininger, Terry Whalin, Lessons from the Pit: A Successful Veteran of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, page 10:"I was unconscious," the basketball player gushes. "It seemed like everything I threw up toward the basket went straight in."
2002, Alexander Wolff, Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure, page 292:Someone who has reeled off a string of baskets will say, "I was unconscious," as if he were following the Zen injunction to be mindful while suspending thought.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Translations
without directed thought or awareness
- Afrikaans: onderbewussyn
- Armenian: please add this translation if you can
- Belarusian: падсвядо́мы (padsvjadómy), неўсвядо́млены (njeŭsvjadómljeny, literally “not realized”)
- Bulgarian: подсъзна́телен (bg) (podsǎznátelen)
- Catalan: subconscient
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 潛意識的/潜意识的 (zh) (qiányìshí de)
- Czech: podvědomý m
- Dutch: onbewust (nl)
- Finnish: tiedostamaton, tiedoton (fi), (informal) piilotajuinen, alitajuinen
- French: subconscient (fr) m
- Georgian: ქვეცნობიერი (kvecnobieri)
- German: spontan (de), unbewusst (de), unterbewusst (de)
- Greek: υποσυνείδητος (el) (yposyneíditos)
- Hungarian: tudat alatti
- Irish: fo-chomhfhiosach
- Japanese: 潜在意識 (ja) (せんざいいしき, senzai ishiki)
- Korean: 잠재의식적(潛在意識的) (jamjae'uisikjeok), 무의식적(無意識的) (muuisikjeok)
- Manx: fo-chooinsheansagh
- Maori: mauri pōtere
- Persian: ناخودآگاه (fa) (nâxodâgâh)
- Polish: podświadomy (pl)
- Portuguese: inconsciente (pt) m or f, automático (pt) m, involuntário (pt) m, maquinal (pt) m or f, mecânico (pt) m, incônscio m, subconsciente (pt)
- Romanian: subconștient (ro)
- Russian: подсозна́тельный (ru) (podsoznátelʹnyj), неосо́знанный (ru) (neosóznannyj, literally “not realized”)
- Scottish Gaelic: fo-mhothachail
- Slovak: podvedomý, nevedomý
- Spanish: subconsciente (es)
- Swedish: undermedveten (sv), omedveten (sv)
- Ukrainian: підсвідо́мий (pidsvidómyj), несвідо́мий (nesvidómyj), неусвідо́млений (neusvidómlenyj, literally “not realized”)
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Noun
unconscious (plural unconsciouses)
- (psychology) That part of mind that is not consciously perceived.
- Synonyms: subconscious, subconsciousness, subconscious mind
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 135:Because the unconscious is outside time, it can perceive transformations beyond the limits of the ego.
Derived terms
Translations
that part of mind that is not consciously perceived
- Bulgarian: подсъзнание n (podsǎznanie)
- Catalan: inconscient (ca) m, subconscient m, subconsciència f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 潛意識/潜意识 (zh) (qiányìshí)
- Czech: podvědomí n
- Dutch: onbewuste (nl) n, onderbewustzijn (nl) n
- Esperanto: subkonscio
- Finnish: alitajunta (fi), (informal) piilotajunta
- French: subconscient (fr) m
- German: Unbewusstes n, Unterbewusstsein (de) n
- Greek: υποσυνείδητο (el) n (yposyneídito)
- Hungarian: tudatalatti (hu)
- Irish: fo-chomhfhios m
- Italian: subconscio (it) m
- Japanese: 潜在意識 (ja) (せんざいいしき, senzai ishiki)
- Kazakh: бейсаналылық (beisanalylyq)
- Korean: 잠재의식(潛在意識) (ko) (jamjae'uisik), 무의식(無意識) (ko) (muuisik)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: jêrhiş (ku)
- Persian: ناخودآگاه (fa) (nâxodâgâh), ناخودآگاهی (fa) (nâxodâgâhi)
- Polish: nieświadomość (pl) f, podświadomość (pl) f
- Portuguese: inconsciente (pt) m, subconsciente (pt) m
- Romanian: subconștient (ro) n, (rare) subconștiință f
- Russian: подсозна́тельное (ru) n (podsoznátelʹnoje), подсозна́ние (ru) n (podsoznánije)
- Slovak: nevedomie, podvedomie
- Spanish: subconsciencia
- Swedish: undermedvetna (sv)
- Tagalog: kubmalay
- Ukrainian: підсвідо́мість f (pidsvidómistʹ)
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Further reading
- "unconscious" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 320.