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.
And was the 05:00 wake-up and two hours of getting ready worth it?
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
He was due to make a keynote address at the World Economic Forum in Davos—one day before Trump’s own speech there—and wanted to frame it as a wake-up call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Experts warn that the heatwave which gripped the UK this week is not a "one-off" and should act as a "wake-up call" for the country to prepare for a Mediterranean climate.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
"It is a wake-up call for the ANC."
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
The following morning, Fig slept past his early-morning wake-up call again.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
