Meaning & use
consciousness
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The state of being awake and aware of yourself and what is around you.
Grammar: No plural in this sense; you can say 'lose consciousness' but not 'lose a consciousness'.
Patterns
- lose consciousness
- regain consciousness
- a state of consciousness
After the accident, he lost consciousness for several minutes.
The patient regained consciousness in the ambulance.
Doctors checked her level of consciousness every hour.
noununcountable
Awareness of a particular subject or issue shared by a group of people.
Grammar: Often used with 'raise', 'increase', or 'public' to talk about social or political awareness.
Patterns
- raise consciousness about something
- public consciousness
- environmental consciousness
The campaign raised public consciousness about plastic waste.
There is growing consciousness of mental health issues at work.
The film helped bring the problem into public consciousness.
nouncountable or uncountableformal
The ideas, feelings, and beliefs that a person or group is aware of at a particular time.
Grammar: Can be countable when referring to different types of awareness, as in 'different consciousnesses'.
Patterns
- a national consciousness
- a collective consciousness
The speech touched a deep national consciousness.
The internet has changed our collective consciousness.
Word forms
| plural | consciousnesses |
|---|
Common combinations
- lose consciousness
- He lost consciousness briefly after hitting his head.
- raise consciousness
- The group works to raise consciousness about climate change.
- regain consciousness
- She regained consciousness in the hospital.
- public consciousness
- The issue has entered the public consciousness.
- a state of consciousness
- Meditation can change your state of consciousness.
Synonyms and how they differ
- awareness
- Similar but often about knowing that something exists; 'consciousness' is more about being awake and able to think.
- mind
- Refers to the ability to think and feel, not just the state of being awake.
Opposites
Word family
- conscious adjective
- Awake and able to understand what is happening.
- consciously adverb
- In a deliberate or aware way.
- unconscious adjective
- Not awake or not aware.
- subconscious adjective
- Relating to thoughts and feelings you are not fully aware of.
Commonly confused: consciousness or conscience? consciousness or conscious?
consciousness vs conscience
Means your inner sense of right and wrong. 'Consciousness' is about being awake and aware.
consciousness vs conscious
An adjective meaning 'awake or aware'. Use 'consciousness' when you need a noun.
Practice
The patient ______ consciousness shortly after the operation.
Choose one answer.
'Regained consciousness' means became conscious again after being unconscious. 'Raised' is used with 'consciousness' in the sense of increasing awareness, not recovering from unconsciousness; 'lost out on' and 'brought up' do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “consciousness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.