What does subconscious mean?
Subconscious describes mental processes that operate outside a person's immediate conscious awareness. Such processes may include memories, associations, attitudes, emotional responses, and impulses that influence attention, judgments, and behavior without being consciously noticed. In everyday language, the term is often associated with hidden desires, motives, and fears, although it does not mean that every irrational or unwanted thought is subconscious. It also has a broader adjectival use for anything happening without conscious notice or intention. The word is especially common in psychology and in discussions of motivation, creativity, persuasion, bias, and behavior. Although psychologically precise models of the mind differ, the general distinction is between processes that are consciously accessible and those that are not yet available in awareness. As a noun, the subconscious denotes this broader domain of mental activity.
Existing or operating outside conscious awareness, especially in relation to mental processes that influence thought or behavior.
"The researcher proposed that the choice was guided by a subconscious preference."
Commonly used before words such as mind, process, desire, fear, bias, and influence.
The part or system of the mind consisting of mental processes that are not directly accessible to conscious awareness.
"Meditation helped her notice patterns in her subconscious."
Usually used with a definite article and in the singular, as in “the subconscious”; it is not ordinarily used with a plural.
The noun is normally singular or used in a mass sense, as in “the human subconscious.”
"The therapist helped him explore what lay beneath his conscious thoughts."
Your subconscious does not sleep when you do: unnoticed impressions can quietly steer attention, emotion, and choice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does subconscious come from?
The word was formed in the early 19th century from the prefix sub-, meaning “under” or “below,” and conscious, from Latin conscientia, meaning “knowledge” or “awareness.” Its original philosophical sense concerned mental states or faculties below the level of conscious thought. It later became common in psychology and everyday speech for mental processes whose effects can influence conscious experience without being directly noticed.
Related word forms
How subconscious is actually used
In general use, the term often suggests mental activity that is inaccessible to immediate awareness but can still influence judgment or behavior. In some psychological theories, especially dynamic and Jungian traditions, it has a more specific meaning; popular usage should not be taken to imply that everything unwanted or irrational lies in the subconscious.
Easily confused with subconscious
The unconscious includes mental processes wholly outside awareness, whereas the subconscious usually refers to influences that operate outside conscious awareness while remaining capable of affecting conscious thought or behavior.