self-consciousness

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˌsɛlfˈkɑnʃəsnəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #82844

Meanings

1

noun
The awareness of the self as an entity.

[A]nd that one great and all-important occasion and provocative of these beliefs was actually the rise of self-consciousness — that is, the coming of the mind to a more or less distinct awareness of itself and of its own operation, and the consequent development and growth of Individualism, and of the Self-centred attitude in human thought and action.
2

noun
Shyness; a feeling of unease in social situations.

Adam Gopnik has, by many accounts, including his own, a lovely life. A longtime staff writer for the New Yorker and bestselling author, Gopnik lives in Manhattan with his wife, Martha, a film-maker, and their two children, and he moves in the kind of circles that allow him to drop casual lines into conversation such as: “As John Updike once said to me …”, although he has the nervy Jewish self-consciousness to follow that with “… if you’ll forgive the namedrop.”.
3

noun
self-awareness plus the additional realization that others are similarly aware of you
4

noun
embarrassment deriving from the feeling that others are critically aware of you

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 noun · embarrassment deriving from... uneasiness

More shyness

Word family

Derived forms unself-consciousness

Etymology

From self- + consciousness.

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# self-consciousness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌsɛlfˈkɑnʃəsnəs/
**Frequency rank:** 82844

## Meanings
1. The awareness of the self as an entity.
2. Shyness; a feeling of unease in social situations.
3. self-awareness plus the additional realization that others are similarly aware of you
4. embarrassment deriving from the feeling that others are critically aware of you

## Examples
- [A]nd that one great and all-important occasion and provocative of these beliefs was actually the rise of self-consciousness — that is, the coming of the mind to a more or less distinct awareness of itself and of its own operation, and the consequent development and growth of Individualism, and of the Self-centred attitude in human thought and action.
- Adam Gopnik has, by many accounts, including his own, a lovely life. A longtime staff writer for the New Yorker and bestselling author, Gopnik lives in Manhattan with his wife, Martha, a film-maker, and their two children, and he moves in the kind of circles that allow him to drop casual lines into conversation such as: “As John Updike once said to me …”, although he has the nervy Jewish self-consciousness to follow that with “… if you’ll forgive the namedrop.”.

## Synonyms
- shyness

## Derived Forms
- unself-consciousness

## Etymology
From self- + consciousness.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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