oblivious

English

Etymology

From Middle English oblivious, from Latin oblīviōsus (“forgetful, oblivious”), formed from oblīvium (“forgetfulness, oblivion”) + -ōsus (“full of, overly, prone to”), from oblīvīscor (“to forget”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, Australian) IPA^(key): /əˈblɪviəs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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  • Audio (England):

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Adjective

oblivious (comparative more oblivious, superlative most oblivious)

1. (usually with to or of) Lacking awareness; unmindful; unaware, unconscious of.

   Your grandmother is completely oblivious to her surroundings.

2. (dated, usually with of, never with to) Forgetful.

   He's hopelessly oblivious, always forgetting his appointments.

Derived terms

• cache-oblivious
• nonoblivious
• obliviously
• obliviousness
• semioblivious
• unoblivious

Related terms

• oblivion
• oblivious transfer

Translations

unaware — see also unaware

• Catalan: inconscient (ca), ignorant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不自覺 / 不自觉 (zh) (bùzìjué)

• Czech: nevšímavý, nevědomý, nesoustředěný
• Danish: uvidende
• Dutch: onoplettend (nl)
• Esperanto: nekonscia
• Finnish: tietämätön (fi), välinpitämätön (fi)
• French: ignorant (fr), inconscient (fr)
• German: (rare) selbstvergessen, unaufmerksam (de), nicht bewusst, unbedacht (de), unbedarft (de)
• Italian: inconsapevole (it), ignaro (it)
• Japanese: 無自覚 (ja) (mujikaku)
• Latin: obliviosus
• Macedonian: не́свесен (nésvesen)
• Māori: mākūare
• Polish: nieświadomy (pl)
• Portuguese: inconsciente (pt), sem noção
• Spanish: inconsciente (es), desprevenido, ajeno (es), desconocedor (es), no darse cuenta (verb), oblivio, oblivioso, inenterado
• Swedish: ovetande (sv)
• Turkish: dikkatsiz (tr), habersiz (tr), ilgisiz (tr), ihmâlci, ihmâlkâr, lakayıt (tr)
• Ukrainian: несвідо́мий (nesvidómyj)
• Vietnamese: tỉnh bơ (vi)

failing to remember

• Bulgarian: забравящ (bg) (zabravjašt)
• Catalan: oblidós, oblidadís
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 健忘 (zh) (jiànwàng)

• Czech: neuvědomující si
• Dutch: vergeetachtig (nl)
• Esperanto: forgesema (eo)
• Finnish: unohtavainen, muistamaton (fi)
• French: distrait (fr), oublieux (fr)
• German: vergesslich (de)
• Italian: smemorato (it)
• Latin: obliviosus
• Macedonian: забо́равен (zabóraven), ра́сеан (rásean)
• Occitan: oblidós
• Polish: zapominalski (pl)
• Portuguese: esquecediço, esquecidiço
• Russian: забывчивый (ru) (zabyvčivyj)
• Spanish: olvidadizo (es)
• Swedish: glömsk (sv)
• Turkish: unutarak, unutkan (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: اونوتغان (unutgan)

• Ukrainian: забу́дькуватий (zabúdʹkuvatyj)
• Vietnamese: hay quên, lãng quên (vi)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• oblyvyous, oblivyows

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obliviosus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔbˈlivius/, /ɔbˈliːvius/

Adjective

oblivious

1. (Late Middle English, rare) forgetful

Related terms

• oblivion

Descendants

• English: oblivious

References

• “oblīviǒus, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.