awake
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to wake up; rouse from sleep.
I awoke at six with a feeling of dread.
-
to rouse to action; become active.
His flagging interest awoke.
-
to come or bring to an awareness; become cognizant (often followed byto ).
She awoke to the realities of life.
adjective
-
waking; not sleeping.
-
vigilant; alert.
They were awake to the danger.
verb
-
to emerge or rouse from sleep; wake
-
to become or cause to become alert
-
(usually foll by to) to become or make aware (of)
to awake to reality
-
Also: awaken. (tr) to arouse (feelings, etc) or cause to remember (memories, etc)
adjective
-
not sleeping
-
(sometimes foll by to) lively or alert
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
reawakeverb
-
awakeableadjective
-
half-awakeadjective
-
unawakeadjective
-
unawakeableadjective
-
unawakedadjective
-
unawakingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
awakesimple
-
awakessimple
-
have awokeperfect
-
have awokenperfect
-
has awokeperfect
-
has awokenperfect
-
am awakingprogressive
-
are awakingprogressive
-
is awakingprogressive
-
have been awakingperfect progressive
-
has been awakingperfect progressive
Past
-
awakedsimple
-
awokesimple
-
had awokeperfect
-
had awokenperfect
-
was awakingprogressive
-
were awakingprogressive
-
had been awakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of awake
First recorded before 1000; Middle English awaken, Old English awacen, past participle of awæcnan; see a 1, waken
Explanation
When you're awake, you're conscious and aware of your surroundings. When you're not awake, you're asleep. If you are reading this, you are indeed awake. Most people are awake during the day and asleep at night, but if you work the night shift or suffer from insomnia, you might also be awake at night. When awake is used as a verb, it means "wake up:" "I watched my kitten awake from a deep sleep and yawn." Awake comes from two Old English roots, āwæcnan, "to arise," and āwacian, "to revive."
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.
See Examples For:
This broad set of information allowed the team to compare what people experienced while awake with the stories, settings, and emotions that appeared in their dreams.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
When the center’s Kristine Koh arrived later to evaluate the raptor, she was awake and alert — but quiet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Backway said for women, poor sleep could often be put down to menopause or being kept awake by young children or stress.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
The first one in and the last one out, with seven NFL championships built at an hour of the morning no camera was awake for.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Despite turning off my light forty-five minutes ago, I’m still awake.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
The Amazon MGM film, which stars Ryan Gosling as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a dimming sun, has earned nearly $257 million in total domestically.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
This is the stage set for the release of Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel “Yesteryear,” a satirical thriller in which Christian tradwife influencer Natalie awakes in an 1855 homestead with no explanation and no escape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
When she awakes, he lies to her about what happened, and season one's cliffhanger ending leaves viewers with the strong impression that Ellie is well aware of the deception.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2025
In 2013, the artists Sam and Toby Alden posted a web comic in which Jon Arbuckle awakes to find himself inside of Garfield, and Garfield tells him, “I’m Sorry Jon. I was so hungry.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
An owl hoots; a bird sleeping in a laurel bush awakes and flutters its wings.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Satchell, who said the months at the Six Flags site were the highlight of her nursing career, told Dennis she’d awaked that morning sad to see it close.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 16, 2021
Peter Ricketts, formerly the head of Britain’s Foreign Office, said he had awaked to the news of Mrs. May “appealing to others to help her out of dilemmas of her own making.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2018
Thibault has discussed playing Delle Donne at multiple positions, even admitting he’s awaked in the middle of the night with new offensive ideas.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2017
To longtime supporters, it was as if entire sections of the crowd had awaked from a 15-year coma.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2014
Retired worn out; slept soundly; awaked by mate telling me that both man of watch and steersman missing.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
So, by the time the game ended, Sasaki’s three-inning start seemed like a murky nightmare the Dodgers awoke from in a sweat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
I awoke in Washington on a recent Thursday the proud owner of a pair of Donald Trump’s favorite shoes.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
"This awoke not just Michoacan, but all of Mexico," she told AFP while surrounded by bodyguards to keep would-be assassins at bay.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
On the morning of Feb. 19, I awoke to the fiery red clouds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
Ralph awoke much later when the clock began to grind and groan and slowly, as if in pain, strike eleven, the safe hour for mice to appear.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
GRENOBLE, France—One night last week, Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar was fast asleep on the shores of Lake Geneva when he was suddenly awoken by a knock at his hotel-room door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
They were awoken by seeing flames and immediately dialled 999.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Sajili said he was awoken by a fellow passenger as the triple-decker ferry began to tilt precariously.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
The mother and father were awoken at 03:00 GMT to the fire and attempted to reach the back bedroom where the children were sleeping.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
Sometimes after the migraine had stopped, I was able to fall asleep briefly, only to be awoken by nightmares.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
I do luxuriate in awaking to no news deadlines, playing pickleball when court fees are low and cycling to the beach on a weekday morning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
“They have all had similar experiences with the Grants Pass police awaking them, moving them along, ticketing them, fining them, arresting them and/or criminally prosecuting them for living outside,” Blake wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
Anwar McQueen, a star guard who played on the 1992-93 team, recalls an episode when he overslept, awaking too late to make the team’s flight to Vero Beach, Fla., where they were to play games.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022
After awaking, he tweeted that he was fortunate he fell ill in Britain instead of in the United States.
From Fox News ● Aug. 5, 2020
And now Dawn took her own fair throne, awaking the girl in the sweet gown, still charmed by dream.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
