awake
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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awakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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awoke,
past participle, past
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awaked,
past
-
awoken,
past participle
-
awaking
present participle
-
to wake up; rouse from sleep.
I awoke at six with a feeling of dread.
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to rouse to action; become active.
His flagging interest awoke.
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to come or bring to an awareness; become cognizant (often followed byto ).
She awoke to the realities of life.
adjective
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waking; not sleeping.
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vigilant; alert.
They were awake to the danger.
verb
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to emerge or rouse from sleep; wake
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to become or cause to become alert
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(usually foll by to) to become or make aware (of)
to awake to reality
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Also: awaken. (tr) to arouse (feelings, etc) or cause to remember (memories, etc)
adjective
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not sleeping
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(sometimes foll by to) lively or alert
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reawakeverb
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awakeableadjective
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half-awakeadjective
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unawakeadjective
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unawakeableadjective
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unawakedadjective
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unawakingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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awakesimple
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awakessimple
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have awokeperfect
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have awokenperfect
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has awokeperfect
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has awokenperfect
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am awakingprogressive
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are awakingprogressive
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is awakingprogressive
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have been awakingperfect progressive
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has been awakingperfect progressive
Past
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awakedsimple
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awokesimple
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had awokeperfect
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had awokenperfect
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was awakingprogressive
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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:
But witnesses said that Pike remained awake longer than expected and was later heard "loudly snoring" before an ambulance rushed her to a nearby hospital.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
The banks that thrive will be the ones that earn deposits in a world where every dollar is awake, and the regulators who succeed will be those who prepare to oversee machine-speed money transfers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Some people can have caffeine late in the day and fall asleep easily, while others may remain awake for hours.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Last night I tried it, lying awake at 3 a.m., and it worked.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
The first thing I did when I was awake was to go to the window.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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
Ryan Gosling stars in the film as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a sun-dimming phenomenon.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 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
But then they encounter an aswang, a Filipino vampire, who awakes in Farrah an ancient and terrifying power.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
He awakes as soon as I think it.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
A few minutes earlier, Tangie Griffin had awaked to screaming; she was used to young Shaquem crying when he bumped his partially developed left hand.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 19, 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
Knaak said not once during this spell has he awaked wondering how to engage with fans that day.
From New York Times ● Nov. 14, 2014
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
Later.—I must have fallen asleep, for I was awaked by Mina, who was sitting up in bed, with a startled look on her face.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
She was placed in an induced coma to aid her recovery which she awoke from in mid-June but remained “very unwell,” her family said at the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 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
The following day Buzzard-Quashie says she awoke in her car on the outskirts of Northampton feeling confused.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
At last, as time was passing fast, and, for many other reasons, I wished to get her home at once, I shook her more forcibly, till finally she opened her eyes and awoke.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
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
Sajili said he was awoken by a fellow passenger as the triple-decker ferry began to tilt precariously.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
He was told locals of an ancient village near Chepstow had awoken to find more than 50 holes mysteriously dug among the gravestones of their churchyard.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025
One nearby resident told the BBC she and her husband were awoken by a "loud rumbling noise and the ground shaking".
From BBC ● May 16, 2025
Her bleary eyes fluttered open, perhaps awoken by the light.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 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
“We are unwilling to spin out our awaking thoughts into the phantasms of sleep, which often continueth praecogitations, making Cables of Cobwebbes and Wildernesses of handsome groves.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2020
Finally they fall asleep, awaking only when three Hitler Youths in uniform report for duty early the next morning.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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.
