wake-up
Americannoun
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an act or instance of waking up.
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an act or instance of being awakened.
I asked the hotel desk for a wake-up at 6.
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a time of awaking or being awakened.
I'll need a 5 o'clock wake-up to make the early plane.
adjective
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serving to wake one from sleep.
Tell the front desk you want a wake-up call.
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serving to arouse or alert.
a wake-up call on the problems of pollution.
noun
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informal an alert or intelligent person
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informal to be fully alert to (a person, thing, action, etc)
Etymology
Origin of wake-up
First recorded in 1835–45; noun, adj. use of verb phrase wake up
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.
"It was a real wake-up call for the US," he says.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
It also came as a wake-up call for the Haftars to turn the city into a showcase reconstruction project.
From Barron's • Jun. 6, 2026
But I’d encourage you to use this discovery as motivation — a wake-up call that jolts you into action.
From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026
For private-equity investors, however, the actions in Oregon and California are a wake-up call, showing that the new laws can’t be ignored, said John Saran, a partner at law firm Holland & Knight.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
“I guess once in a while we all need a wake-up call from somebody who loves us.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
