woke
Americanverb
adjective
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having or marked by an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those involving the treatment of ethnic, racial, or sexual minorities: He took one African American history class and now he thinks he’s woke.
In light of incidents of police brutality, it’s important to stay woke.
He took one African American history class and now he thinks he’s woke.
This generation of kids is trying to make woke choices in life.
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Disparaging. as used by political opponents, of or relating to a liberal progressive orthodoxy.
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Slang. aware of the facts, true situation, etc. (sometimes used facetiously).
Stay woke—always read a contract before you sign it, and know your rights.
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awake.
I had to drink lots of coffee this morning to stay woke.
verb
Usage
What else does woke mean? Woke means being conscious of racial discrimination in society and other forms of oppression and injustice. In mainstream use, woke can also more generally describe someone or something as being "with it."
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of woke
First recorded before 900 as past tense woke ( for def. 1 ); 1960–65 woke ( for defs. 2, 4 ), popularized by the Black civil rights movement and later by Black Lives Matter
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.
I woke up in the morning to a warm California sun and hot coffee, sipped on the balcony.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
She’s sleeping well right at this exact moment—but today she woke up every hour from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., at which point we all had to get up to get ready for the day.
From Slate • May 3, 2026
"We woke up to the sound of her screaming at 2am," Samah al-Daabla, the mother of four-year-old Mayaseen, tells the BBC.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
I grew up out West and on a cattle ranch and we woke up with the sun.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
Next thing I knew I woke up in our shack, but not for long because I couldn’t seem to stay awake.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
