awake

1 of 2

verb

ə-ˈwāk 

awoke ə-ˈwōk  also awaked ə-ˈwākt  ; awoken ə-ˈwō-kən  also awaked or awoke; awaking

intransitive verb

1

: to cease sleeping : to wake up

She awoke late that morning.

The next day we awoke to the sound of drums.

—Sarah Ferrell

2

: to become aroused or active again

when the volcano awoke

3

: to become conscious or aware of something

awoke to the possibilities

At the same time, Italian prosecutors awoke to the international magnitude of their Sicilian underworld …

—Selwyn Raab

transitive verb

1

: to arouse from sleep or a sleeplike state

He was awoken by the storm.

2

: to make active : to stir up

an experience that awoke old memories

awake

2 of 2

adjective

: fully conscious, alert, and aware : not asleep

I'm so tired I can barely stay awake.

Did you know?

The Past Tense Forms of Awake and Awaken

Awake and awaken are two distinct verbs that mean the same thing. In other words, they're synonyms, and in the present tense they each behave the way English verbs typically behave:

The cat awakes at dawn.

The cat awakens at dawn.

Things get trickier in the past tense.

Our modern verb awake is the result of the long-ago melding of two older verbs. These verbs were very similar, but one had regular past tense forms (like play: played, has played) and the other had irregular past tense forms (like take: took, has taken).

When the two verbs melded into the modern awake (which was a process over many years), things got complicated, resulting ultimately in the following grammatically permissible sentences:

The cat awaked at dawn.

The cat awoke at dawn.

The cat was awaked by the mouse at dawn.

The cat was awoken by the mouse at dawn.

Note, though, that at this point, these are the most common:

The cat awoke at dawn.

The cat was awoken by the mouse at dawn.

That's the story of awake. Fortunately awaken (which was originally one of the past tense forms of awake) is simpler. It's a regular verb, which means it has the usual past tense forms:

The cat awakened at dawn.

The cat was awakened at dawn by a mouse.

As if all this weren't complicated enough, awake is also an adjective:

Because of the cat, I too am now awake.

For a detailed discussion of the history of these words, please see the The Grammatical History of 'Awaken' / 'Awoken' / 'Awakened'.

Synonyms

Verb

• arouse
• awaken
• knock up [British]
• rouse
• wake
• waken

Adjective

• insomniac
• sleepless
• wakeful
• wide-awake

Choose the Right Synonym for awake

aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, alive, awake mean having knowledge of something.

aware implies vigilance in observing or alertness in drawing inferences from what one experiences.

aware of changes in climate

cognizant implies having special or certain knowledge as from firsthand sources.

not fully cognizant of the facts

conscious implies that one is focusing one's attention on something or is even preoccupied by it.

conscious that my heart was pounding

sensible implies direct or intuitive perceiving especially of intangibles or of emotional states or qualities.

sensible of a teacher's influence

alive adds to sensible the implication of acute sensitivity to something.

alive to the thrill of danger

awake implies that one has become alive to something and is on the alert.

a country always awake to the threat of invasion

Examples of awake in a Sentence

Verb

She fell asleep immediately but awoke an hour later.

I awoke several times during the night.

The baby awoke from his nap.

The alarm awoke me early.

They were awoken by a loud bang.

Adjective

Drinking coffee keeps him awake.

I am so tired I can barely stay awake.

She was lying awake, tossing and turning.

One moment she was sleeping soundly—the next she was wide awake.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Eighty-three years after the Pearl Harbor attacks, here's a look at some of the photos during and after the bombings that awoke the sleeping giant. —James Powel, USA TODAY, 6 Dec. 2024

His comments awoke the industry for a discourse about wokeness that even reached fellow Seinfeld alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who, for the record, disagreed with him). —Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2024

Adjective

Our eyes looked less puffy and tired and felt more bright and awake. —L.a. Hubilla, People.com, 9 Dec. 2024

Willie fell asleep instantly, but Eliza stayed awake into the silent hours, watching the shimmer of moonbright river on the wall and the ceiling. —Lauren Groff, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Adjective

Middle English awaken (from Old English awacan, onwacan, from a- entry 1, on + wacan to awake) & awakien, from Old English awacian, from a- entry 1 + wacian to be awake — more at wake

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing awake

• wide-awake

Kids Definition

awake

1 of 2 verb

ə-ˈwāk 

awoke -ˈwōk  also awaked -ˈwākt  ; awoken -ˈwō-kən  or awaked also awoke; awaking

1

: to arouse from sleep : wake up

2

: to become aware of something

awoke to their danger

3

: to make or become active : stir

awoke old memories

awake

2 of 2 adjective

1

: not sleeping

2

: alert entry 1 sense 1a