self-awareness

noun

The state or property of being self-aware; state of being aware of oneself as an individual.

Opposite
self-unawareness
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Meanings

nounself-awareness (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe state or property of being self-aware; state of being aware of oneself as an individual.
  2. uncountablehuman sciencesA personal trait regarding someone's ability to persistently and accurately perceive their presence amongst other people, and their own knowledge and abilities.

    As with any good relationship, readers who have experience with ENM say self-awareness and communication are key to keeping things harmonious.

    2024 January 27, Doosie Morris, “‘Humans are messy’: readers share their experiences with ethical non-monogamy”, in The Guardian

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
self-unawareness
Also see
autognosisself-consciousnessself-recognition

Origin

From self- + awareness. Also equivalent to self-aware + -ness, though attested earlier.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic وَعْي بِالذَّات
  • وَعْي بِالذَّات (waʕy bi-ḏ-ḏāt)state of being self-aware
Catalan autognòsia
  • autognòsiastate of being self-aware
Chinese Mandarin 自我意識 /自我意识
  • 自我意識 /自我意识 (zìwǒ yìshi)state of being self-aware
Estonian eneseteadvus
  • eneseteadvusstate of being self-aware
Finnish itsetajunta, itsetietoisuus
  • itsetajuntastate of being self-aware
  • itsetietoisuusstate of being self-aware
  • tietoisuus itsestästate of being self-aware
French conscience de soi
  • conscience de soistate of being self-aware
German Selbstbewusstsein
  • Selbstbewusstseinstate of being self-aware
Greek αυτοσυνείδηση
  • αυτοσυνείδηση (aftosyneídisi)state of being self-aware
Hungarian öntudat, öntudatosság
  • öntudatstate of being self-aware
  • öntudatosságstate of being self-aware
Irish féinfheasacht, féinfhios
  • féinfheasachtstate of being self-aware
  • féinfhiosstate of being self-aware
Italian autocoscienza, autognosia
  • autocoscienzastate of being self-aware
  • autognosiastate of being self-aware
  • autoconsapevolezzastate of being self-aware
Japanese 自己認識
  • 自己認識 (jikoninshiki)state of being self-aware
Latvian apzinātība
  • apzinātībastate of being self-aware
Norwegian Bokmål selvoppfatning
  • selvoppfatningstate of being self-aware
Polish samoświadomość
  • samoświadomośćstate of being self-aware
Portuguese autoconsciência, autoconhecimento
  • autoconsciênciastate of being self-aware
  • autoconhecimentostate of being self-aware
  • autognosestate of being self-aware
Russian самосозна́ние
  • самосозна́ние (samosoznánije)state of being self-aware
Spanish autognosis, autoconsciencia
  • autognosisstate of being self-aware
  • autoconscienciastate of being self-aware
Swedish självkännedom, självförnimmelse
  • självkännedomstate of being self-aware
  • självförnimmelsestate of being self-aware
  • självinsiktstate of being self-aware
Ukrainian самосвідо́мість
  • самосвідо́мість (samosvidómistʹ)state of being self-aware
Cite this entry
APA

self-awareness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-awareness

MLA

“self-awareness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-awareness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-awareness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-awareness.

Source: self-awareness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.