What does "awake" mean?
To become conscious after having slept.
Awake
/əˈweɪk/ adj, verb
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To become conscious after having slept.
- Grammar: awake is listed as adj, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: alert, activate, agile, alert.
- Useful contrasts: asleep, unconscious, comatose.
- Usage evidence: The household was already awake at 6 in the morning.
How to use "awake"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "awake" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "awake" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "awake" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "awake" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "awake" is acting as adj, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alert" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "awake", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To become conscious after having slept. intransitive, predicative
"Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night, Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultán's Turret in a Noose of light."
- 2 stop sleeping wordnet
- 3 To cause (somebody) to stop sleeping. predicative, transitive
"Thenne she called the heremyte syre Vlfyn I am a gentylwoman that wold speke with the knyght whiche is with yow / Thenne the good man awaked Galahad / & badde hym aryse and speke with a gentylwoman that semeth hath grete nede of yow / Thenne Galahad wente to her & asked her what she wold"
- 4 To make aware of something. predicative, transitive
- 5 To excite or to stir up something latent. predicative, transitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To rouse from a state of inaction or dormancy. figuratively, predicative, transitive
- 7 To come out of a state of inaction or dormancy. figuratively, intransitive, predicative
"1867-1879, Edward Augustus Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England The national spirit again awoke."
Adjective
- 1 Not asleep; conscious. not-comparable, predicative
"By quarter to six all this had me so awake and agitated that even the Balinese wind chimes that I hung up in the garden to relax me began to sound like Big Ben."
- 2 Alert, aware. broadly, figuratively, not-comparable, predicative
"They were awake to the possibility of a decline in sales."
Adjective
- 1 not in a state of sleep; completely conscious wordnet
- 2 mentally perceptive and responsive wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"The household was already awake at 6 in the morning."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "awake"?
Common synonyms include: alert, activate, agile, alert, alert, alive.
How do you use "awake" in a sentence?
The household was already awake at 6 in the morning.
How do you pronounce "awake"?
Pronounced /əˈweɪk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English awake, a shortened form of awaken (“awakened, awake”), past participle of Middle English awaken (“to awaken”). See verb below. Compare Saterland Frisian woak (“awake”), German Low German waak (“awake”), German wach (“awake”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English awaken and awakien, from Old English āwacan and āwacian. By surface analysis, a- + wake.