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
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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:
I have a distinct childhood memory of being shocked awake at 3 in the morning during the 2002 World Cup—the one that was held in Japan and South Korea.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Reiner pointed to “a variety of physical ailments” that are “easy to see,” including bruised hands, swollen legs and an inability to stay awake.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
Salk neuroscientist John Reynolds, PhD, was the first to identify traveling brain waves in the visual systems of awake animals back in 2020.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
Last year Mustafa Suleyman, the head of AI at rival firm Microsoft, said "seemingly conscious" AI products "kept him awake at night" because he was so worried about their impact on society.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Chase shouted at him, then tried to shake him awake.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
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
In 2013, the artists Sam and Toby Alden posted a web comic in which Jon Arbuckle awakes to find himself inside of Garfield, and Garfield tells him, “I’m Sorry Jon. I was so hungry.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
But then they encounter an aswang, a Filipino vampire, who awakes in Farrah an ancient and terrifying power.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
In the spring when the dragon awakes, I watched its turnings in the rivers.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Satchell, who said the months at the Six Flags site were the highlight of her nursing career, told Dennis she’d awaked that morning sad to see it close.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 16, 2021
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
Bored into slumber by 8:30 or 9, I awoke instantly to the bell at 5:15.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 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
When Stock “suddenly awoke in the middle of the night,” the Grappler was born.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
She awoke to find her cabin boy’s trousers and warm knit sweater on the foot of her bed, neatly folded and smelling of fresh soap and wood smoke.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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
Sajili said he was awoken by a fellow passenger as the triple-decker ferry began to tilt precariously.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
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
Sometimes after the migraine had stopped, I was able to fall asleep briefly, only to be awoken by nightmares.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
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
Anwar McQueen, a star guard who played on the 1992-93 team, recalls an episode when he overslept, awaking too late to make the team’s flight to Vero Beach, Fla., where they were to play games.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 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
And now Dawn took her own fair throne, awaking the girl in the sweet gown, still charmed by dream.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
