self-consciousness
UK[ˌself ˈkɒn.ʃəs.nəs]US[ˌself ˈkɑːn.ʃəs.nəs]
n
A feeling of undue awareness of oneself, one's appearance, or one's actions, often accompanied by nervousness or awkwardness.
n
The state of being intensely aware of oneself as a thinking, feeling entity.
Morpheme Breakdown
self
conscious
ness
self
one
conscious
knowing, aware.
ness
Etymology
The word is a modern English compound formed from three distinct elements. The core, 'conscious', originates from Latin conscius ('knowing with' or 'sharing knowledge'), itself from com- ('with') and scire ('to know'). The prefix 'self-', of Germanic origin, directs this awareness inward, toward one's own person. Finally, the Old English suffix '-ness' nominalizes the adjective 'self-conscious', transforming the state of being into an abstract concept. Thus, the literal "state of knowing-with-oneself" evolved into the modern psychological term denoting acute, often uncomfortable, self-awareness.
Analysis
Structure: self + conscious + ness
self: Old English, meaning "one's own person." Functions as a prefix denoting reference to oneself.
conscious: Latin origin (from conscius), meaning "knowing, aware." Functions as the core adjective describing a state of awareness.
ness: Old English, a suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives, indicating a state or quality.
Examples
Her self-consciousness made it difficult for her to speak in front of large groups.
Adolescence is often a time of heightened self-consciousness.
With practice, the dancer overcame her initial self-consciousness and performed with confidence.