aware

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