rude awakening
Britishnoun
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.
Leeds' sublime second goal in the 43rd minute was a rude awakening for Chelsea's title prospects.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
Ukraine underwent a similar rude awakening to the nature of global power politics after it surrendered its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in the 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Also, keep in mind that if your travel plans include national parks or other federally operated sites, you might be in for a rude awakening.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2025
For Ai Qing, the tyre-burning protest was a rude awakening.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2024
The canines on these hummers were as big as the canines on any guard dog you’ll ever see, and that was a rude awakening.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
