wake-up
Americannoun
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an act or instance of waking up.
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an act or instance of being awakened.
I asked the hotel desk for a wake-up at 6.
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a time of awaking or being awakened.
I'll need a 5 o'clock wake-up to make the early plane.
adjective
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serving to wake one from sleep.
Tell the front desk you want a wake-up call.
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serving to arouse or alert.
a wake-up call on the problems of pollution.
noun
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informal an alert or intelligent person
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informal to be fully alert to (a person, thing, action, etc)
Etymology
Origin of wake-up
First recorded in 1835–45; noun, adj. use of verb phrase wake up
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tank bottoms at Cushing would be a wake-up call that inventories are dangerously low.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
Figures that show the estimated cost of rural crime in Northern Ireland rose to £2.2m in 2025 should "serve as a serious wake-up call" for farmers, their union has said.
From BBC • May 30, 2026
Beijing’s ability to leverage its rare-earth-magnet dominance in trade negotiations was the latest wake-up call, as those inputs are used in everything from weapons systems to electric-vehicle motors.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
College graduates get a pep talk—and a wake-up call—as they embark on their careers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
It is no exaggeration to say that my whole family was about to get a wake-up call from hell.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
