What word to choose as the opposite of "self-aware"?

Question

What word would describe the quality of not being self-aware?

unselfaware
unself-aware
un-selfaware
un-self-aware
non-self-aware

I am aware that it is allowed to have multiple hyphens in a word. However, the Oxford English Dictionary lists self-aware as a hyphenated word, whilst unaware is not. Therefore, I am unsure which of these options to choose. Or perhaps there is a better word?

I have found this article, but don't feel enormously clearer about it. http://stancarey.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/non-life-threatening-unselfconscious-hyphens/ — Stewart, Jan 02 '15 at 06:54
Also closely related (albeit in the context of combinations of three components that exist as whole, freestanding word, as opposed to one or more prefixes and whole words in combination): http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/208443/multiple-words-connected-using-multiple-hyphens-or-one — Sven Yargs, Jan 02 '15 at 08:29
Incidentally, though "un-self-aware" has three word pieces stitched together with hyphens, it is an example of double hyphenation, not triple hyphenation. For the latter, you'd need something like "un-self-aware-seeming." — Sven Yargs, Jan 02 '15 at 08:33
The word itself, regardless of spelling, is quite bizarre and jarring to me. If unaware is the opposite of aware, the opposite of self-aware would surely be self-unaware? Not that that's much better, but it is at least a bit easier to parse to me. — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Jan 02 '15 at 13:32
@JanusBahsJacquet I was also going to propose self-unaware. If you post it as an answer, I would vote it up. — 200_success, Jan 02 '15 at 19:26
@JanusBahsJacquet I think I'm starting to like self-unaware also. Please post as an answer, so that I can accept. — Stewart, Jan 03 '15 at 12:09
By the way I protest against this question being robotically marked as a duplicate. I have read the alternate questions suggested, and they DO NOT answer this question AT ALL. — Stewart, Jan 03 '15 at 12:14
@Stewart I agree, that question is significantly different from yours. I’ve voted to reopen (I will also post my previous comment as an answer if and when the question is reopened and answerable). — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Jan 03 '15 at 12:28
Your original title, which asked for a generic answer, suggested that the question was a duplicate. The body of the question asked something much more specific, though. — 200_success, Jan 03 '15 at 13:35
@JanusBahsJacquet Time to post self-unaware as an answer? This question just got another downvote today, without explanation, and all the other answers here have been downvoted. Not sure I feel very welcome at EL&U anymore. — Stewart, Mar 25 '15 at 10:46

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 02 '15 at 07:00

7

Perhaps something along the lines of "oblivious"? "Words" with two hyphens are monstrosities, in my opinion.

answered Jan 02 '15 at 07:00

Dave Mulligan

762

1

One could be hypercritical of others while unaware of their own behaviour. Oblivious fails to make that distinction. – 200_success Jan 02 '15 at 20:12
1

@200_success, yes, good point, I agree: oblivious loses that possible, but important, meaning. This may well be a case where the best solution is to recast the sentence to avoid the necessity for "un-self-aware" in the first place. – Dave Mulligan Jan 03 '15 at 09:57

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 25 '15 at 09:43

3

As recommended by @JanusBahsJacquet in the comments to the question, I chose self-unaware as my word.

For some reason when asking the question, I got stuck mentally, on having the negation prefix come first in the word.

answered Jun 25 '15 at 09:43

Stewart

950

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 23 '15 at 18:34

2

A mystically-inclined friend frequently mentions the opposite condition to being self-aware. He calls it "sleepwalking". But underlying this is the mystic's idea of what self-awareness is, which might not relate to what the OP had in mind.

answered Apr 23 '15 at 18:34

David Pugh

2,797

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 29 '16 at 02:13

I was just think about this today and ended up referring to the "lack of self-awareness" as it was the only thing that felt right.

That being said, if I had to pick something that was a single compound word that would indicate the exact opposite of self-aware, I would go with self-unaware.

In certain cases, you might find 'conceite' to be a good antonym of self-aware. As in "Conceited people generally lack self-awareness". It's not a perfect opposite, but works in some cases.

Philosophically, we are all self aware, some just more so than others (self-awareness is always > 0 for humans). Someone who is literally not self aware (in the literal sense of literally) wouldn't be a functional human being. As such referring to someone as self-unaware would be hyperbolic at best. Perhaps this is why the Internet doesn't have a solid answer?

I agree. Someone could be described as lacking in self-awareness or they could have low self-awareness. — dangph, Mar 29 '16 at 03:40

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 02 '15 at 15:14

To think that adjectives like 'self-aware' must remain intact when one is expressing the opposite meaning is a form of grammatical un-sanity or non-sanity, by which I mean insanity.

Those who are aware of themselves are said to be self-aware. Those who are not are said to be lacking self-awareness.

Christopher · Answer 6 · 2022-12-18T00:06:42.377

Aselfaware

Perhaps someone can help me understand th difference between un- and a-. I understand un- refers to ‘not what was,’ while a- is ‘not’ with no temporal connotation. Because the order of consciousness is 1) not aware, 2) aware and then 3)self aware, why is un- even used…unless someone loses their awareness (e.g. brain damage).

un- prefix of reversal, deprivation, or removal (as in unhand, undo, unbutton), Old English on-, un-, from Proto-Germanic *andi- (source also of Old Saxon ant-, Old Norse and-, Dutch ont-, Old High German ant-, German ent-, Gothic and- "against"), from PIE *anti "facing opposite, near, in front of, before, against" (from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before").

a- prefix meaning "not, without," from Greek a-, an- "not" (the "alpha privative"), from PIE root *ne- "not" (source also of English un-). In words from Greek, such as abysmal, adamant, amethyst; also partly nativized as a prefix of negation (asexual, amoral, agnostic). The ancient alpha privatum, denoting want or absence.

Because unaware is already a word. https://www.google.com/search?q=define+unaware — Stewart, Dec 18 '22 at 18:52
@Stewart ‘not aware,’ or lack of awareness. I like anaware…creative! — Christopher, Jan 02 '23 at 06:04

score -1 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 02 '15 at 07:19

-1

In my view, un-self-aware is the best choice here. It respects the form of the standard spelling of 'self-aware', while avoiding the creation of the puzzling and potentially ambiguous entity, 'unself'. Some people might regard a word with two hyphens as a monstrosity, but I can think of very few situations in which the author of a piece of non-fiction writing would not want clarity of intent to be one of their chief aims, or even the chief aim.

Of course, if you are a writer of fiction or poetry who is playing with the multiple possibilities inherent in an ambiguously spelled word, none of the foregoing applies.

answered Jan 02 '15 at 07:19

Erik Kowal

26,806

1

@Stewart: the question title would more accurately be "Hyphenation of Triple Compound Words". As for the article you mentioned, I can see why it did not clear the matter up for you. As with many things, hyphenation is subject to change, as well as differences in "house style". The article does make some good points about avoiding awkward juxtapositions such as "antiindustrial". And he discusses at length the oddity of "unself". With that in mind, I would suggest you go with "non-self-aware". – Brian Hitchcock Jan 02 '15 at 10:12

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 28 '16 at 02:21

-1

Although, technically the word self-aware or self-awareness is redundant, I think it's been accepted into our lexicon because it underscores the state of being "aware of the truth" as opposed to being in denial. The word "aware" is too vague.

answered Mar 28 '16 at 02:21

Bernard

1

>> "technically the word self-aware is redundant." What does that even mean? What is a redundant word? A word that fails to communicate? – Stewart Mar 28 '16 at 10:40

What word to choose as the opposite of "self-aware"?

8 Answers8