cognizant

adjective

cog·​ni·​zant ˈkäg-nə-zənt 

: knowledgeable of something especially through personal experience

also : mindful

cognizant of the potential dangers

Synonyms

• alive
• apprehensive
• aware
• conscious
• mindful
• sensible
• sentient
• ware
• witting

Choose the Right Synonym for cognizant

aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, alive, awake mean having knowledge of something.

aware implies vigilance in observing or alertness in drawing inferences from what one experiences.

aware of changes in climate

cognizant implies having special or certain knowledge as from firsthand sources.

not fully cognizant of the facts

conscious implies that one is focusing one's attention on something or is even preoccupied by it.

conscious that my heart was pounding

sensible implies direct or intuitive perceiving especially of intangibles or of emotional states or qualities.

sensible of a teacher's influence

alive adds to sensible the implication of acute sensitivity to something.

alive to the thrill of danger

awake implies that one has become alive to something and is on the alert.

a country always awake to the threat of invasion

Examples of cognizant in a Sentence

Not like some college kid beaming in blissful ignorance, but rather like a worldly 23-year-old, self-aware and fully cognizant of the dire straits he's entering. —Jody Berger, ESPN, 14 June 1999

… the idea of a machine cognizant of that human Achilles' heel, emotion, can conjure more sinister images—like HAL, the savvy, menacing computer in "2001," whose fear that he would be unplugged led him to kill all but one of the crew members on a space mission. —Daniel Goleman, New York Times, 7 Jan. 1997

… to assure you that I am neither privy to, nor cognizant of, any such clique; and that I most potently disbelieve in the existence of any such. —Abraham Lincoln, letter, 13 Oct. 1849

He is cognizant of his duties as a father.

not fully cognizant of the details of the trade agreement

Recent Examples on the Web

My New Year's resolution in 2025 was to be more cognizant and selective with my people pleasing tendencies... —Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025

Today’s younger generations are fully cognizant of their need for ongoing learning. —Mark C. Perna, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025

Heiss understood things about the world, and about love, that Prima did not yet understand; by wishing to love Prima, in her youth and ignorance, Heiss revealed a desire for subtle dominance, an advantage and control that Prima would not be cognizant of as Thalia Campbell might be. —Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 4 May 2025

Tuesday night, Board President Cody Petterson the board is cognizant of the fact that many communities are attached to their mascots. —Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

cogniz(ance) + -ant entry 2

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined above