What does "vigil" mean?
An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
Vigil
/ˈvɪd͡ʒəl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
- Grammar: vigil is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: watch, alertness, alertness, all-night vigil.
- Useful contrasts: carelessness, disregard, neglect.
- Usage evidence: She kept an all-night vigil over her sick child.
How to use "vigil"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "vigil" 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 "vigil" 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 "vigil" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "vigil" 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 "vigil" is acting as name, noun, 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 "watch" 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 "vigil", 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
Noun
- 1 An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
"I saw her head drooped upon her hand; her whole attitude expressing that profound depression, whose lonely vigil wastes the midnight in a gloomy watch, which yet hopes for nothing at its close."
- 2 a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe wordnet
- 3 A period of observation or surveillance at any hour.
"His dog kept vigil outside the hospital for eight days while he was recovering from an accident."
- 4 the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes (especially on the eve of a religious festival) wordnet
- 5 The eve of a religious festival in which staying awake is part of the ritual devotions.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 a period of sleeplessness wordnet
- 7 A quiet demonstration in support of a cause.
"The protesters kept vigil outside the conference centre in which the party congress was being held."
Verb
- 1 To participate in a vigil.
"As the arrested painters and their supporters waited out their "day in court," other activists distributed Hiroshima information leaflets, vigiled silently with placards and banners, and marched 500-strong through downtown Boston to a rally at City Hall Plaza."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"She kept an all-night vigil over her sick child."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "vigil"?
Common synonyms include: watch, alertness, alertness, all-night vigil, bedtime prayer, camp meeting.
How do you use "vigil" in a sentence?
She kept an all-night vigil over her sick child.
How do you pronounce "vigil"?
Pronounced /ˈvɪd͡ʒəl/.
Etymology
From Middle English vigile (“a devotional watching”), from Old French vigile, from Latin vigilia (“wakefulness, watch”), from vigil (“awake”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong, lively, awake”). Doublet of Wigilia. See also wake and vigor, from the same root.