woke

[wohk]

verb

1. a simple past tense of wake.

adjective

1. having or marked by an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those involving the treatment of ethnic, racial, or sexual minorities: He took one African American history class and now he thinks he’s woke.

   In light of incidents of police brutality, it’s important to stay woke.

   He took one African American history class and now he thinks he’s woke.

   This generation of kids is trying to make woke choices in life.

2. Disparaging.,  as used by political opponents, of or relating to a liberal progressive orthodoxy.

3. Slang.,  aware of the facts, true situation, etc. (sometimes used facetiously).

   Stay woke—always read a contract before you sign it, and know your rights.

4. awake.

   I had to drink lots of coffee this morning to stay woke.

woke

/ wəʊk /

verb

1. a past tense of wake 1

Other Word Forms

• unwoke adjective
• wokeism noun
• wokism noun
• wokeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of woke¹

First recorded before 900 as past tense woke ( for def. 1 ); 1960–65 woke ( for defs. 2, 4 ), popularized by the Black civil rights movement and later by Black Lives Matter

Example Sentences

When Yamamoto woke up Saturday morning, he felt strong enough that contributing wasn’t out of the question.

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When shepherd Wasit Khan woke up to rushing waters, with trailing chunks of ice and debris, he ran to an area with a better signal.

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These people mirror the woke left’s self-obsessed identity politics and fantasies of malign Jewish influence.

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The president’s arrogation of control over the Kennedy Center, on the defensible grounds that its programs are “woke” and otherwise anti-American, has occasioned an unofficial boycott.

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Runners camped out in a meadow the night before and woke up at 3 a.m.

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Related Words

• enlightened 
• multiculturally sensitive www.thesaurus.com

When To Use

What else does woke mean?

Woke means being conscious of racial discrimination in society and other forms of oppression and injustice. In mainstream use, woke can also more generally describe someone or something as being "with it."