awake
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to wake up; rouse from sleep.
I awoke at six with a feeling of dread.
-
to rouse to action; become active.
His flagging interest awoke.
-
to come or bring to an awareness; become cognizant (often followed byto ).
She awoke to the realities of life.
adjective
-
waking; not sleeping.
-
vigilant; alert.
They were awake to the danger.
verb
-
to emerge or rouse from sleep; wake
-
to become or cause to become alert
-
(usually foll by to) to become or make aware (of)
to awake to reality
-
Also: awaken. (tr) to arouse (feelings, etc) or cause to remember (memories, etc)
adjective
-
not sleeping
-
(sometimes foll by to) lively or alert
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
reawakeverb
-
awakeableadjective
-
half-awakeadjective
-
unawakeadjective
-
unawakeableadjective
-
unawakedadjective
-
unawakingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
awakesimple
-
awakessimple
-
have awokeperfect
-
have awokenperfect
-
has awokeperfect
-
has awokenperfect
-
am awakingprogressive
-
are awakingprogressive
-
is awakingprogressive
-
have been awakingperfect progressive
-
has been awakingperfect progressive
Past
-
awakedsimple
-
awokesimple
-
had awokeperfect
-
had awokenperfect
-
was awakingprogressive
-
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:
He thought the person had heard Quintero scrambling over the wall and worried they were awake, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
This broad set of information allowed the team to compare what people experienced while awake with the stories, settings, and emotions that appeared in their dreams.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Tilly said she thought the sedation and memory problems she experienced afterwards might explain why she could not recall being awake.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The first one in and the last one out, with seven NFL championships built at an hour of the morning no camera was awake for.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
She’d lain awake for an hour the night before, thinking of all the things she was going to say when she met him.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
The Amazon MGM film stars Ryan Gosling as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a sun-dimming phenomenon.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 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
“This color has a history of being quite attractive,” she said in an interview, “but I’m looking for a dissonance, something that also awakes or repulses.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2022
The night awakes to buzzing and to cries and barks.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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
When that man awoke he called for help.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The next morning, while the former chef was still in Palm Springs, the filing states that she awoke experiencing severe hemorrhaging and drove herself to the emergency room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 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
They awoke to the last traces of mist floating above the water.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
But the mixture of "tinder dry" pine and intense heat helped upend things on day five when the family was awoken on Friday morning.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
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
Yellow jersey wearer Pogacar was awoken after the Dane at 05:00 to undergo doping controls and suggested the effects of Vingegaard's disrupted sleep could have been a factor in his crash.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 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
It was just a week or so later when Aunt Kitty and I were awoken before dawn by a pounding on our door.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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
I kept thinking I had slept and was awaking after dreaming of a tiger.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
