Unconscious Meaning
/ˌʌnˈkɒnʃəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNot awake; having no awareness (usually as the result of a head injury).
adjWithout directed thought or awareness.
Sentence Examples
People who are unconscious can't say they want to die.
If the patient is unconscious, the family can make the decision.
They found him lying unconscious on the floor.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the blow to the head, the boxer lay ____ on the canvas.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The man was found ____ in the park this morning and he was taken to the hospital by a local ambulance today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English conscious English unconscious From un- + conscious.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The firefighters put on breathing apparatus and managed to find the injured. In one case, they were almost too late - one of the bystanders who had helped with the initial rescue attempts had been reported missing. They were later found unconscious, having been overcome by the fumes."
— 2026 March 18, Greg Morse, “1996 crash driving freight reforms”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 51:
"It was intolerable, he felt, to sit and eat in presence of that silent figure partly turned away from him, jotting down the different amounts on a bit of paper, and absorbed in that occupation as if unconscious of his presence."
— 1884, Margaret Oliphant, The Wizard's Son:
"Reshaping [of British Railways] was far from perfect. It was tainted by statistical overreach, the unconscious biases of its author, and by the political demands being placed upon the BRB by government."
— 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 49:
"Sam is unconscious, filling it, drilling it from every conceivable angle. Lem is awful and Cooper seems confused. Josh shoots too often."
— 1998, Charles Rosen, The Cockroach Basketball League, page 144:
""I was unconscious," the basketball player gushes. "It seemed like everything I threw up toward the basket went straight in.""
— 1999, Joseph Leininger, Terry Whalin, Lessons from the Pit: A Successful Veteran of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, page 10:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the blow to the head, the boxer lay ____ on the canvas.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The man was found ____ in the park this morning and he was taken to the hospital by a local ambulance today.