awake
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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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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unawakeableadjective
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half-awakeadjective
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unawakeadjective
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unawakedadjective
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unawakingadjective
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reawakeverb
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awakeableadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have awokeperfect
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has awokenperfect 3rd person singular
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has awokeperfect 3rd person singular
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have awokenperfect
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have been awakingperfect progressive
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am awakingprogressive 1st person singular
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is awakingprogressive 3rd person singular
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awakingparticiple
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are awakingprogressive
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has been awakingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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awakessingular 3rd person
Past
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had awokeperfect
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had awokenperfect
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were awakingprogressive plural
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had been awakingperfect progressive
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was awakingprogressive singular
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awokesimple
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awokenparticiple
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awakedsimple
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awokeparticiple
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.
Gates said he had hoped the tariff on his foreign competitors’ windows would give Awake an edge as a domestic company.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
A series of events, including the Mighty Hoopla, Cross The Tracks and Wide Awake, are due to be held at Brockwell Park in south London from 23 May until 8 June.
From BBC • May 17, 2025
Carhartt WIP and Awake NY link up in the name of form, function and community for the brands’ collaborative SS23 collection.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2023
As a curator, he has worked on shows such as “An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections From the Whitney’s Collection, 1940-2017” and “David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night.”
From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022
Awake, yeah, but completely empty, like someone had been feasting on my blood.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
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.
