Meanings
- uncountableThe awareness of the self as an entity.
1 more example
[A]nd that one great and all-important occasion and provocative of these beliefs was actually the rise of self-consciousness — that is, the coming of the mind to a more or less distinct awareness of itself and of its own operation, and the consequent development and growth of Individualism, and of the Self-centred attitude in human thought and action.
1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 165 - uncountableShyness; a feeling of unease in social situations.
1 more example
Adam Gopnik has, by many accounts, including his own, a lovely life. A longtime staff writer for the New Yorker and bestselling author, Gopnik lives in Manhattan with his wife, Martha, a film-maker, and their two children, and he moves in the kind of circles that allow him to drop casual lines into conversation such as: “As John Updike once said to me …”, although he has the nervy Jewish self-consciousness to follow that with “… if you’ll forgive the namedrop.”
2017 December 8, Hadley Freeman, “Adam Gopnik: ‘You’re waltzing along and suddenly you’re portrayed as a monster of privilege’”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
nounembarrassment deriving from the feeling that others are critically aware of you
nounself-awareness plus the additional realization that others are similarly aware of you
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek συναίσθησις
- συναίσθησις (sunaísthēsis)awareness of the self as an entity
Bulgarian самосъзнание
- самосъзнание (samosăznanie)awareness of the self as an entity
Chinese Mandarin 自我意識 /自我意识, 羞怯
- 自我意識 /自我意识 (zìwǒ yìshí)awareness of the self as an entity
- 羞怯 (xiūqiè)shyness
- 社交不安感shyness
Finnish minätietoisuus, ujous
- minätietoisuusawareness of the self as an entity
- ujousshyness
- arkuusshyness
French conscience de soi, timidité
- conscience de soiawareness of the self as an entity
- timiditéshyness
German Selbstbewusstsein, Befangenheit
- Selbstbewusstseinawareness of the self as an entity
- Befangenheitshyness
- Gehemmtheitshyness
- Verlegenheitshyness
Italian autocoscienza, impaccio
- autocoscienzaawareness of the self as an entity
- impaccioshyness
Japanese 自己意識, 自己意識
- 自己意識 (jiko ishiki)awareness of the self as an entity
- 自己意識 (jiko ishiki)shyness
Polish samoświadomość, nieśmiałość
- samoświadomośćawareness of the self as an entity
- nieśmiałośćshyness
- zakłopotanieshyness
Russian самосозна́ние, самоосмысле́ние
- самосозна́ние (samosoznánije)awareness of the self as an entity
- самоосмысле́ние (samoosmyslénije)awareness of the self as an entity
- засте́нчивость (zasténčivostʹ)shyness
Spanish autoconsciencia, timidez
- autoconscienciaawareness of the self as an entity
- timidezshyness
- inseguridadshyness
- autoconcienciashyness
- cohibiciónshyness
Swedish självmedvetenhet, förlägenhet
- självmedvetenhetawareness of the self as an entity
- förlägenhetshyness
Tamil தன்னுணர்வு
- தன்னுணர்வு (taṉṉuṇarvu)awareness of the self as an entity
Thai อัตพิชาน, ความสำนึกตน
- อัตพิชานawareness of the self as an entity
- ความสำนึกตนawareness of the self as an entity
Cite this entry
self-consciousness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-consciousness
“self-consciousness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-consciousness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-consciousness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-consciousness.
Source: self-consciousness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.