Meaning of conscious In English

• 0 to notice that a particular thing or person exists or is present:

  • My tooth doesn't exactly hurt, but I'm conscious of it (= I can feel it) all the time.

  • [ + -ing verb ] I think she's very conscious of being the only person in the office who didn't have a university education.

  • [ + that ] He gradually became conscious (of the fact) that everyone else was wearing a suit.

• 1 awake, thinking, and knowing what is happening around you:

  • He's still conscious but he's very badly injured.

  • She's out of the operating theatre, but she's not fully conscious yet.

  • figurative humorous "Can I speak to Isobel, please?" "She's still in bed. I'll go and see if she's conscious (= awake) yet."

• 2 determined and intentional:

  • He's obviously making a conscious effort to be nice to me at the moment.

  • It wasn't a conscious decision to lose weight. It just happened.

• 3 used after nouns and adverbs to mean "knowing about and worried about a particular thing", or "thinking that something is important":

  • fashion-conscious teenagers

  • the health-conscious consumer

  • He's never been especially politically conscious.

• 4 awake, aware of what is happening around you, and able to think:

  • She’s out of surgery but not fully conscious yet.

• 5 noticing the existence of something:

  • People have become much more conscious of the need to exercise regularly.

• 6 determined and intentional:

  • Was it a conscious decision to break up the group, or did it just happen?

• 7 being especially aware of or worried about something:

  • Consumers aren’t as conscious of prices as they were last year.