awareness

noun

aware·​ness ə-ˈwer-nəs 

: the quality or state of being aware : knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists

promoting a heightened awareness of the problem

seemed to have only a slight awareness of what was going on

an acute awareness of subtle differences

They hope to raise awareness of endangered species, encouraging donations and attracting tourists to the region to support conservation efforts.

—New Scientist

The alternative press played a particularly important role in raising political awareness and facilitating mobilization against the regime in South Africa …

—Larry Diamond

Synonyms

• attention
• mindfulness
• consciousness
• knowledge

Examples of awareness in a Sentence

while strolling in the big city, maintain an awareness of what's going on around you

Recent Examples on the Web

The brains undergirding this contextual awareness now runs on Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant architecture. —IEEE Spectrum, 7 Aug. 2025

This sense of awareness and moral grounding is what differentiates you from someone that deliberately wants to watch others fail. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025

That study also included a separate group of participants who showed observable, external signs of awareness. —Mariana Lenharo & Nature Magazine, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2025

Though public awareness of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound is high, that doesn’t mean everyone who takes the blockbuster drugs understands how to do so safely. —Elizabeth Yuko, Flow Space, 5 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing awareness

• hyper-awareness
• self-awareness

Rhymes for awareness

• unawareness
• bareness
• fairness
• squareness
• unfairness