Cognizant

//ˈkɑɡnɪzənt// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Aware; fully informed; having understanding of a fact.

    "The defendant is cognizant that this is a serious charge."

  2. 2
    Sapient; self-aware.

    "It is important to note that zombies are not cognizant life forms. As such, they cannot be deterred or reasoned with in any way. However, there are zombie-inducing forces that can be deterred form^([sic]) further action."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (sometimes followed by ‘of’) having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
conscioussensibleacknowledgingalertalivealive to

Example

More examples

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

Etymology

A new formation from cognizance + -ant; first attested in the 19th century. Compare Old French conoissant (present participle of conoistre; modern French connaissant), from Latin cognōscentem (accusative singular present participle of cōgnōscō).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.