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OBLIVIOUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Failing to keep in mind
Example:
oblivious old age
Synonyms:
forgetful; oblivious
Classified under:
Similar:
inattentive (showing a lack of attention or care)
Derivation:
oblivion; obliviousness (total forgetfulness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(followed by 'to' or 'of') lacking conscious awareness of
Example:
not unmindful of the heavy responsibility
Synonyms:
oblivious; unmindful
Classified under:
Similar:
incognizant; unaware ((often followed by 'of') not aware)
Derivation:
obliviousness (total forgetfulness)
Context examples:
Remonstrance was of no use, then; so I laughed, and admired, and was very much in love and very happy; and she showed me Jip's new trick of standing on his hind legs in a corner—which he did for about the space of a flash of lightning, and then fell down—and I don't know how long I should have stayed there, oblivious of Traddles, if Miss Lavinia had not come in to take me away.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Having received sundry lessons from Matt, said lessons being imparted by means of a club, the sled-dogs had learned to leave White Fang alone; and even then they were lying down at a distance, apparently oblivious of his existence.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
How often, at hare and hounds, have I seen him mounted on a little knoll, cheering the whole field on to action, and waving his hat above his grey head, oblivious of King Charles the Martyr's head, and all belonging to it!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
