unawareness

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˌʌnəˈwɛrnəs/ UK /ˌʌnəˈweənəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the state of not being conscious or cognizant of something

His complete unawareness of the danger made the rescue urgent.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of not being... ignorance obliviousness unconsciousnessincognizanceinsensibility

Opposites

awareness consciousness cognizance knowledge

Word family

Related forms unaware aware awareness

Etymology

From unaware + -ness. Aware comes from Old English gewær ('watchful, vigilant'), from Proto-Germanic *gawaraz, from *ga- (intensive prefix) + *waraz ('wary, aware'), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- ('to perceive, watch out for').

un- Old English gewær Old English *wer- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# unawareness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌʌnəˈwɛrnəs
**IPA (UK):** ˌʌnəˈweənəs

## Meanings
1. the state of not being conscious or cognizant of something

## Examples
- His complete unawareness of the danger made the rescue urgent.

## Synonyms
- ignorance
- obliviousness
- unconsciousness
- incognizance
- insensibility

## Antonyms
- awareness
- consciousness
- cognizance
- knowledge

## Related Forms
- unaware
- aware
- awareness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: gewær
- Root: *wer-

## Etymology
From unaware + -ness. Aware comes from Old English gewær ('watchful, vigilant'), from Proto-Germanic *gawaraz, from *ga- (intensive prefix) + *waraz ('wary, aware'), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- ('to perceive, watch out for').

## AI Etymology
Unawareness is from unaware + -ness. Aware comes from Old English gewær ('watchful, vigilant'), from Proto-Germanic *gawaraz, from *ga- (intensive prefix) + *waraz ('wary, aware'), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- ('to perceive, watch out for'). Important recorded forms include un- (Old English), gewær (Old English), and *wer- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the un- element marks negation, reversal, removal, or deprivation, while the base supplies the action, quality, or state being denied or undone. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers the state of not being conscious or cognizant of something. The wider family includes related words such as unaware, aware, and awareness.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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unawareness

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