Aware - Awareness - Cognizant

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. --James Thurber


a·ware
play_w2("A0551800") (-wâr) adj.
1. Having knowledge or cognizance: aware of the difference between the two versions; became aware of faint sound.
2. Archaic Vigilant; watchful.

[Middle English, variant of iwar, from Old English gewær; see wer-3 in Indo-European roots.]

a·wareness n.
Synonyms: aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, awake, alert, watchful, vigilantThese adjectives mean mindful or heedful: Aware implies knowledge gained through one's own perceptions or by means of information:
Are you aware of your opponent's hostility?
I am aware that the legislation passed.

Cognizant is a formal equivalent of aware: "Our research indicates that the nation's youth are cognizant of the law" Jerry D. Jennings.Conscious emphasizes the recognition of something sensed or felt: "an importance . . . of which even Americans are barely conscious" William Stanley Jevons.

Sensible implies knowledge gained through intuition or intellectual perception: "I am sensible that the mention of such a circumstance may appear trifling" Henry Hallam.

To be awake is to have full consciousness of something: "as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself" Jane Austen.Alert stresses quickness to recognize and respond: I remained alert to career opportunities.Watchful and vigilant imply looking out for what is dangerous or potentially so: The watchful parents protected their toddler. The ranger kept a vigilant eye out for forest fires.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.