unaware

Unaware is an adjective describing a lack of knowledge, perception, or consciousness about a person, object, event, or situation. Someone who is unaware does not realize that something is the case, even when information or consequences exist. The phrase "unaware of" is common in everyday language, as in "They were unaware of the change in policy" or "I was unaware that the meeting had moved."

It is distinct from "unconscious," which refers to a state of not being awake or not having mental content available to consciousness, and from "ignorant," which emphasizes a lack of information and can carry a judgment about the person's responsibility for that lack. Unawareness can result from attention limits, distraction, selective perception, or genuine gaps in information. It can be temporary or persistent depending on the context.

In psychology and neuroscience, unawareness can describe metacognitive limitations, such as failures to recognize one's own biases or errors. Clinically, certain conditions involve true unawareness of a deficit, such as anosognosia following a brain injury, or hemispatial neglect where a person ignores one side of space. In everyday use, unawareness often refers to being unaware of risks, social norms, or recent changes.