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• wide-awake
  wide-awake

  adjective

  fully awake; with the eyes wide open.
• wide awake
  wide awake

  Fully awake; also, very alert. For example, He lay there, wide awake, unable to sleep, or She was wide awake to all the possibilities. The wide in this idiom alludes to the eyes being wide open. [Early 1800s]

wide-awake

American  

[wahyd-uh-weyk] / ˈwaɪd əˈweɪk /

adjective

1. fully awake; with the eyes wide open.

   Synonyms:

   unsleeping, astir, wakeful, open-eyed, awake

   Antonyms:

   restful, sleeping, asleep, somnolent, lethargic, drowsy, sleepy

2. alert, keen, or knowing.

   a wide-awake young woman.

   Synonyms:

   astute, quick, sharp, vigilant, watchful

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noun

1. Also called wide-awake hat.  a soft, low-crowned felt hat.

2. the sooty tern.

wide-awake British  

adjective

1. fully awake

2. keen, alert, or observant

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noun

1. Also called: wide-awake hat.  a hat with a low crown and very wide brim

wide awake Idioms  

1. Fully awake; also, very alert. For example, He lay there, wide awake, unable to sleep, or She was wide awake to all the possibilities. The wide in this idiom alludes to the eyes being wide open. [Early 1800s]

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Other Word Forms

• wide-awakeness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of wide-awake

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

Wide awake at 3:42 a.m., she quietly extricates herself from the man sleeping beside her, rises from their bed and, after a few ominously involved precautions, slips out into the night.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2020

Wide awake, she took a good look and recognized Tennessee himself.

From Time Magazine Archive

Wide awake now, Petra thought of Charles Fort.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett

Wide awake now, he pushed back the covers, got out of bed, and went over to the window.

From "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness

Wide awake at once, he scrambled to his feet, and his eyes went automatically to the upper room.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw