conscious vs. conscience : Commonly confused words | Vocabulary.com
SKIP TO CONTENT
Dictionary
Vocabulary Lists
VocabTrainer™
Commonly Confused Words
conscious/
conscience
Both words have to do with the mind, but if you are conscious, you are awake, and if you have a conscience, you are aware of right and wrong. Remain conscious while listening to your friend's moral dilemma so you can use your conscience to give good advice.
Conscious, pronounced "KAHN-shuhs," means being aware of yourself or the world around you. It also means being sensitive to something or being awake, not asleep or insensible:
Polaski said the worker was conscious and alert when police arrived. (Washington Times)
He was even horribly conscious of a slow pallor creeping over his face. (Bertram Mitford)
“I don’t have any shoes,” I told Lissa, suddenly conscious of my bare feet. (The Old Willis Place)
Conscience, pronounced "KAHN-shuhns," is a moral understanding, an inner feeling, of right and wrong. If you were a cartoon, your conscience would be that little angel on your shoulder, telling you the right thing to do (and to ignore the little devil on the other side). See the word in action:
They went out guiltily, as men whose consciences troubled them. (Richard Marsh)
Jaime would have liked to do something for them, but his conscience told him it was better to spend his extra money buying food for the hungry than luxuries for his sister and his niece. (The House of the Spirits: A Novel)
To help keep conscious and conscience straight, try emphasizing the second n in conscience, remembering that the conscience deals with your inner thoughts.
Print
Definition:
conscience
A conscience is a built-in sense of what's right and what's wrong. That sick feeling in your stomach after you lied to your brother about borrowing his skateboard? That might be your conscience bothering you. Continue reading...
Definition:
conscious
Conscious is an adjective that simply means alert and awake. If you fall from a tree and smack your head on the side of the wheelbarrow, there's a good chance you won't be conscious afterward. Continue reading...
More Commonly Confused Words
abhorrent / aberrant
accept / except
ado / adieu
adopt / adapt
adverse / averse
affect / effect
afflict / inflict
aggravate / irritate
allot / a lot
allowed / aloud
allude / elude
allusion / illusion / delusion
alter / altar
alternate / alternative
ambiguous / ambivalent
amicable / amiable
amoral / immoral
amuse / bemuse
anecdote / antidote
appraise / apprise
ascent / assent
assume / presume
assure / ensure / insure
aural / oral / verbal
aver / avow
bail / bale
bare / bear
base / bass
bazaar / bizarre
border / boarder
brake / break
breach / breech
bridal / bridle
broach / brooch
callus / callous
cannon / canon
canvas / canvass
capital / capitol
censor / censure
cereal / serial
chord / cord
cite / site / sight
climactic / climatic
complement / compliment
complicit / complacent / complaisant
compose / comprise
conceptional / conceptual / contextual
concurrent / consecutive
confident / confidant(e)
connotation / denotation
connote / denote
conscious / conscience
contemptible / contemptuous
continual / continuous
correlation / corollary
council / counsel
currant / current
decent / descent / dissent
deer / dear
definitely / definitively
demur / demure
desert / dessert
didactic / pedantic
disassemble / dissemble
discomfit / discomfort
discreet / discrete
disillusion / dissolution
disinterested / uninterested
disperse / disburse
dual / duel
economic / economical
elicit / illicit
elusive / illusive
emigrate / immigrate / migrate
eminent / imminent / immanent
empathy / sympathy
endemic / epidemic
entitle / title
entomology / etymology
envelop / envelope
envy / jealousy
epidemic / pandemic
epigram / epigraph
epitaph / epithet
especially / specially
exalt / exult
exercise / exorcise
expedient / expeditious
extant / extent
facetious / factious / fatuous
factious / fractious
faint / feint
farther / further
fawn / faun
faze / phase
ferment / foment
fictional / fictitious / fictive
figuratively / literally
flair / flare
flaunt / flout
flounder / founder
font / fount
formerly / formally
formidable / formative
fortunate / fortuitous
gambit / gamut
gibe / jibe
gig / jig
gorilla / guerrilla
grisly / gristly / grizzly
hale / hail
healthful / healthy
hero / protagonist
hew / hue
historic / historical
hoard / horde
homonym / homophone / homograph
hone / home
hostile / hostel
imply / infer
incredible / incredulous
indeterminate / indeterminable
indict / indite
inflammable / inflammatory
ingenious / ingenuous
insidious / invidious
instant / instance
intense / intensive / intent
introvert / extrovert
irony / satire / sarcasm
it's / its
laudable / laudatory
lay / lie
legislature / legislator
levee / levy
loath / loathe
lone / loan
lose / loose
luxuriant / luxurious
main / mane
manner / manor
mantle / mantel
marital / martial
maximal / maximum
mean / median / average
medal / meddle / mettle
metaphor / simile
moral / morale
morbid / moribund
muscle / mussel
nauseated / nauseous
naval / navel
objective / subjective
optimistic / pessimistic
overdue / overdo
palate / palette / pallet
palmed off / pawned off
paradox / oxymoron
parameter / perimeter
parody / parity
peak / peek / pique
peddle / pedal / petal
persecute / prosecute
personal / personnel
pitiable / pitiful / piteous / pitiless
plain / plane
pore / pour
practical / practicable
pragmatic / dogmatic
precede / proceed
precedent / president
predominate / predominant
premier / premiere
prescribe / proscribe
pretentious / portentous
principal / principle
prophecy / prophesy
prophet / profit
prostate / prostrate
quote / quotation
rebut / refute
regrettably / regretfully
reluctant / reticent
respectfully / respectively
sac / sack
scrimp / skimp
sensor / censor / censer
sensual / sensuous
simple / simplistic
slight / sleight
stationary / stationery
statue / statute
steal / steel
than / then
that / which
their / there / they're
tortuous / torturous
troop / troupe
turbid / turgid
unconscionable / unconscious
undo / undue
unexceptional / unexceptionable
vain / vein / vane
venal / venial
veracious / voracious
wave / waive
weather / whether / wether
who / whom
who's / whose
wreck / wreak / reek
your / you're
Sign up now (it’s free!)
Whether you’re a teacher or a learner,
Vocabulary.com can put you or your class
on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.
Get started
Learn with us
Learner subscriptions
Vocabulary lists
Dictionary
Test Prep
Join a Vocabulary Jam
Commonly confused words
Word of the day
Teach with us
For educators
For schools and districts
How it works
Success stories
Research
Professional development
Contact sales
Resources
Help articles/FAQ
Teaching resources
Learner resources
ESL/ELL resources
Grade level resources
IPA Pronunciation
Contact support
Leaderboards
Vocabulary Bowl
Today's leaders
Weekly leaders
Monthly leaders
About
Our Mission
Blog
Tell us what you think
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Comprehensive K-12 personalized learning
Immersive learning for 25 languages
Trusted tutors ready to help in 300+ subjects
35,000 worksheets, games, and lesson plans
Marketplace for millions of educator-created resources
Fun educational games for kids
Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and learning
Diccionario inglés-español, traductor y sitio de aprendizaje
Fast and accurate language certification
French-English dictionary, translator, and learning
Copyright © 2026
Vocabulary.com, Inc.
A division of IXL Learning •
All Rights Reserved.
Learn with us
Learner subscriptions
Vocabulary lists
Dictionary
Test Prep
Join a Vocabulary Jam
Commonly confused words
Word of the day
Teach with us
For educators
For schools and districts
How it works
Success stories
Research
Professional development
Contact sales
Resources
Help articles/FAQ
Teaching resources
Learner resources
ESL/ELL resources
Grade level resources
IPA Pronunciation
Contact support
Leaderboards
Vocabulary Bowl
Today's leaders
Weekly leaders
Monthly leaders
About
Our Mission
Blog
Tell us what you think
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
My Account
Log in
Sign up
My Account
Log Out
My Learning
My Proficiency Report
My Profile
Schools & Teachers
My Classes
Assignments & Activities
My Lists
Find a List to Learn...
Create a New List...
My Progress
Words I'm Learning
My Trouble Words
Words I've Mastered
My Achievements
User Administration
User Authentication
My Account
Comprehensive K-12 personalized learning
Immersive learning for 25 languages
Trusted tutors ready to help in 300+ subjects
35,000 worksheets, games, and lesson plans
Marketplace for millions of educator-created resources
Fun educational games for kids
Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and learning
Diccionario inglés-español, traductor y sitio de aprendizaje
Fast and accurate language certification
French-English dictionary, translator, and learning
Copyright © 2026
Vocabulary.com, Inc.
A division of IXL Learning •
All Rights Reserved.