unaware

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Germanic *un-

Proto-West Germanic *un-

Old English un-

Middle English un-

English un-

English aware

English unaware

From un- + aware.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌnəˈwɛɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌnəˈwɛə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌʌnəˈweːɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Adjective

unaware (comparative more unaware, superlative most unaware)

1. Not aware or informed; lacking knowledge; unmindful.

   I'm unaware of the answer to that question.

   Luckily, she was unaware that I'd spent the last five years in prison.

   • 1989, Journal of contemporary psychotherapy‎^[1], volume 19:

     The more unaware the self is of other selves, that is, the more complete the splits, the greater the degree of schizoid pathology.

   • 2025 October 1, Richard Evans, “The value of the railway effect”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 58:

     In 1825, the first public railway carried passengers across the English countryside, setting in motion not just an engineering revolution, but an industrial one too. Imagine the awe and excitement of those first passengers as they boarded the train, unaware that they were witnessing the dawn of a new era.

2. Not noticing; paying no heed; thoughtless; inattentive; oblivious.

   Synonym: unthinking

   • 1716, Jonathan Swift, Phyllis, or the Progress of Love:

     Or on the mat devoutly kneeling,
     Would lift her eyes up to the ceiling,
     And heave her bosom unaware
     For neighbouring beaux to see it bare.

Synonyms

• (not aware or informed; lacking knowledge): clueless

Derived terms

• self-unaware
• unawarely
• unawareness
• unawares adverb

Translations

not aware or informed

• Armenian: անտեղյակ (hy) (anteġyak)
• Bengali: গাফেল (bn) (gaphel)
• Catalan: ignorant (ca)
• Finnish: tietämätön (fi), epätietoinen (fi)
• French: inconscient (fr)
• German: unwissend (de), nicht wissend
• Hindi: अनजान (hi) (anjān), अनभिज्ञ (hi) (anbhijña)
• Italian: ignaro (it), inconsapevole (it)
• Latin: inscius
• Plautdietsch: onweetent
• Portuguese: inconsciente (pt)
• Romanian: neștiutor (ro), neprevenit
• Russian: не зна́ющий (ne znájuščij)
• Spanish: inconsciente (es), desprevenido, ignorante (es)
• Tagalog: dinaiino, dinakaiino
• Ukrainian: яки́й не зна́є (jakýj ne znáje)

not noticing, thoughtless, inattentive

• Bengali: গাফেল (bn) (gafel)
• Finnish: tietämätön (fi)
• German: unaufmerksam (de), gedankenlos (de), nicht bemerkend, nichtsahnend (de)
• Hindi: अनभिज्ञ (hi) (anbhijña)
• Russian: не подозрева́ющий (ne podozrevájuščij)
• Saraiki: اݨسُچیتا (aṇsucetā)
• Swedish: aningslös (sv)
• Ukrainian: яки́й не підо́зрює (jakýj ne pidózrjuje)

See also

• unware