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
Examples of aware in a Sentence
Are you aware how important you are to me?
She is one of the most aware people I know.
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Gong and his family members are aware of the filmmakers, even mention the filming, yet remain largely unselfconscious in front of the cameras.—Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 29 Mar. 2025 Our brains are aware of inconsistencies in the imagery at a detailed level, even if the exact nature of these inconsistencies eludes our conscious perception.—Rob Salkowitz, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025 There's a lot of Aiel and Sea Folk stuff where the show is just kind of asking you to take things at face value, even if book-readers are aware of more depth.—ArsTechnica, 28 Mar. 2025 Rudin is also aware of how the industry has changed since his time away.—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 28 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for aware
Word History
Etymology
Middle English iwar, iwarre, going back to Old English gewær, going back to West Germanic *gawaro- (whence Old Saxon & Old High German giwar "cognizant"), from *ga-, perfective, associative and collective prefix + Germanic *waro- "cognizant, watchful" — more at com-, ware entry 1
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Time Traveler
The first known use of aware was
before the 12th century
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