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.
-
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
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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
-
not sleeping
-
(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
-
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
-
am awakingprogressive
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are awakingprogressive
-
is awakingprogressive
-
have been awakingperfect progressive
-
has been awakingperfect progressive
Past
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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:
Scientists have typically studied this kind of sophisticated prediction in people who are awake and paying attention.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
Moore reminds us why we lie awake at night, convincing ourselves there might be more to life.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 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
"Whenever I was awake, I would try to find a way out," he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Forbidden to go to the forest, she flew there in the thin light of the sunrise, before Leonor was awake.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Ryan Gosling stars in the Amazon MGM 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. 29, 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
When Phillips awakes, she’ll squeeze her eyes closed and try and coax the vision to return.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
The night awakes to buzzing and to cries and barks.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
It was 8 a.m. in Omsk when Tatiana was awaked by a phone call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
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
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
Retired worn out; slept soundly; awaked by mate telling me that both man of watch and steersman missing.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
"After the operation, the Pope awoke normally and returned after a brief period of observation to his room," it said earlier, before spending a "peaceful night" at the hospital.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Thousands of Bangkok residents awoke in shelters on Sunday after flooding triggered by days of heavy rain in the Thai capital inundated homes and roads, with some starting to dry out their homes and belongings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
So, by the time the game ended, Sasaki’s three-inning start seemed like a murky nightmare the Dodgers awoke from in a sweat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
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
She slept soundly until dawn and awoke with a feeling of hope.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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
Villagers have awoken to a replica pony standing tall in place of a bronze metal statue which was cut down to its hooves last summer.
From BBC ● May 30, 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
But she had awoken in the dark and could not get back to sleep, and so had decided to tidy that sorry little nursery, one last time.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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
Little Tokyo offered an architectural awaking for a young Frank Gehry, and Disney’s celebrated acoustics trace directly back to Suntory Hall, Yasuhisa Toyota’s first major project.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
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
And now Dawn took her own fair throne, awaking the girl in the sweet gown, still charmed by dream.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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