Word
unconsciously
Phoneticsun·con·scious·ly
US/ˌənˈkɑnʃəsɫi/
UK/ʌnkˈɒnʃəsli/
Definition
adv. to do something without realizing it or without thinking about it.
adv. occurring without conscious awareness or deliberate intent. Typically modifies verbs related to physical habits, speech patterns, or emotional reactions.
Examples
“He unconsciously tapped his foot while waiting for the bus.”
“Many people unconsciously mirror the body language of the person they are talking to during a conversation.”
“The witness unconsciously altered her testimony to align with the leading questions posed by the investigators, demonstrating how easily memory can be influenced by external suggestion.”
Examples
simple
“He unconsciously tapped his foot while waiting for the bus.”
contextual
“Many people unconsciously mirror the body language of the person they are talking to during a conversation.”
complex
“The witness unconsciously altered her testimony to align with the leading questions posed by the investigators, demonstrating how easily memory can be influenced by external suggestion.”
Usage
Typically placed before the main verb or at the end of the clause.
Pitfall
He did it unconscious
He did it unconsciously
Learners often use the adjective 'unconscious' (meaning knocked out or asleep) when they need the adverb 'unconsciously' to describe how an action was performed.
Real-World Examples
“As he described in his blog, he had started to unconsciously monitor signals from his body until he became paralysed with fear.” Etymology
From un- + consciously, and more rarely, from unconscious + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/unconsciously